Protected by treacherous swamps and a well-earned reputation for headhunting, the New Guinea Asmat have only recently come into contact with the modern world.

They are known for two things - the remarkable quality of their woodcarvings, and the notoriety linked to the death of Michael Rockefeller Jr, anthropologist son of the famous American family - did he drown or was he killed and eaten by the Asmat?

Sudden, violent death plays a prominent part in Asmat life. When a man dies his family must take revenge by killing an enemy and taking his head. Each village contains master-carvers who carve the dead man's likeness into giant ancestor poles 20 or more feet high. In a climactic ceremony the appeased spirit leaves the village for the far-off spirit world of Safan.

Ferocious killers, skilful artists, the vigorous revenge society of the Asmat is also a victim of our world. Headhunting and its ceremonies are forbidden; oil companies have moved into the Asmat swamps; missionaries prepare them for a brave new world dominated by concepts new to the Asmat - time, work, money.