American colonists practice scalping
In the American colonies a posse of New Hampshire volunteers comes across a band of encamped Native Americans and takes 10 scalps in the first significant appropriation of this Native American practice by European colonists.The posse received a bounty of 100 pounds per scalp from the colonial authorities in Boston.Although the custom of scalping was once practiced in Europe and Asia it is generally associated with North American native groups.In scalping the skin around the crown of the head was cut and removed from the enemys skull usually causing death.
In addition to its value as a war trophy a scalp was often believed to bestow the possessor with the powers of the scalped enemy.In their early wars with Native Americans European colonists of North America retaliated against hostile native groups by adopting their practice of scalp taking.Bounties were offered for them by colonial authorities which in turn led to an escalation of intertribal warfare and scalping in North America.
