Photograph showing two Kelabit men and a woman, sitting together. This is a posed photograph, probably meant to show the Kelabit marriage ceremony. The men are seated at right. Their hair is cut short all around their heads, and they wear many beads, bracelets and earrings.
The wrist bracelets are made of giant clam shells, the ear decorations from bear tooth. The darkest beads are Venetian glass, and are considered very valuable. The woman wears a skull cap made of stone beads, a traditional sign of aristocratic birth that dates to 700 AD.
Such headwear was treated as an heirloom, and passed down through the family.'Group of Kelabits' photograph by Hedda Morrison,Circa 1953
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