Ifugao helmet and bowl. Wood, fiber, brass. 19th to early 20th century. Northern Luzon, Philippines. Asian Ethnology, UMMA Expedition. UMMAA 92122.

In the 1970s, under the direction of Karl L. Hutterer, curator of Asian Collections, the Museum renewed archaeological research and anthropological collecting in the Philippines. All of Hutterer’s archaeological materials remain in the Philippines, but he added to the division’s ethnographic collections. This carved wooden object (oklop) from the Batad/Cambulo area of northern Luzon may have served dual functions: as a man’s helmet and as a vessel to hold food and drink during travel. Many ethnic groups of northern Luzon made wooden helmets, but only Ifugao artists carved faces on theirs.

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In honor of the University of Michigan’s 2017 bicentennial, we are celebrating the remarkable archaeological and ethnographic collections and rich legacy of research and teaching at the Museum of Anthropological Archaeology by posting one entry a day for 200 days. The entries will highlight objects from the collections, museum personalities, and UMMAA expeditions. The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology is also posting each day for 200 days on Twitter and Facebook (follow along at #KMA200). After the last post, an exhibition on two centuries of archaeology at U-M opens at the Kelsey. Visit the exhibit—a joint project of the UMMAA and the Kelsey—from October 18, 2017 to May 27, 2018.