CHINGMEI SKULL CAVE

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

A narrow cleft, which is too tight to put one's head through, allows peeping down into a dark cave chamber where rows of stacked human skulls are deposited (GANGULI 1976: 209). A penetrable but concealed second cave entrance is perhaps somewhere close by. SITUATION: At an elevation of 2000 m asl (ca. 6500 feet) on a hill where the territories of the Chang and Kheamnyungen meet, and at a relatively large rock in the jungle (GANGULI 1976: 208-209). The lecocation itself is a bit unclear as it is said to lie not only above a path from Tuensang (N26°17': E094°50') towards Hakchang (note 1) but also somewhere in the vicinity of the village of Chingmei (note 2). CULTURAL HISTORY - human use (secondary burial cave): According to Milada GANGULI (1976: 208-209), the Chang people of Changmei village use a natural cave, which they hold both sacred and secret, to deposit skulls of their dead (note 3).A narrow cleft, which is too tight to put one's head through, allows peeping down into a dark cave chamber where rows of stacked human skulls are deposited (GANGULI 1976: 209). A penetrable but concealed second cave entrance is perhaps somewhere close by. SITUATION: At an elevation of 2000 m asl (ca. 6500 feet) on a hill where the territories of the Chang and Kheamnyungen meet, and at a relatively large rock in the jungle (GANGULI 1976: 208-209). The lecocation itself is a bit unclear as it is said to lie not only above a path from Tuensang (N26°17': E094°50') towards Hakchang (note 1) but also somewhere in the vicinity of the village of Chingmei (note 2). CULTURAL HISTORY - human use (secondary burial cave): According to Milada GANGULI (1976: 208-209), the Chang people of Changmei village use a natural cave, which they hold both sacred and secret, to deposit skulls of their dead (note 3).