pigment; sample

Frontal view of whole of Horniman Museum object no 14.119
General view of whole of Horniman Museum object no 14.119
Frontal view of whole of Horniman Museum object no 14.119 General view of whole of Horniman Museum object no 14.119

Sample of dried caterpillars, used as a tattooing pigment. Three whole caterpillars, plus a broken piece of a body. The caterpillars were infected with an endoparasitoid fungus, probably a species of Cordyceps. One of the caterpillars still has the fungal fruiting body (ascocarp) protruding from its head, and there is also a detached length of ascocarp in the sample.

object
MUSEUM NUMBER
14.119
PLACE
COLLECTION
MEASUREMENTS
smallest caterpillar: 55 mm x 10 mm; medium caterpillar: 62 mm x 12 mm; caterpillar with fungal fruit body: 100 mm x 75 mm x 12 mm; broken piece of caterpillar: 24 mm x 12 mm; ; detached fungal fruit body: 98 mm x 21 mm x 3 mm
MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE
animal remains; fungal material
CATEGORY
Anthropology: Ethnography
LOCATION
In storage
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Collection Information

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