Even more surreal, the coffins sat next to rows and rows of tau tau, the Torajans’ realistic wooden effigies of the dead, seated like an important village council. They represent the souls of the anonymous bones scattered in the cave. The older tau tau are crudely carved, with oversized white eyes and straggled wigs. More modern tau tau are distressing in their realism, with finely lined faces, convincing warts, and veined skin. They wear eyeglasses, clothes, and jewelry, and look ready to pry themselves up by their canes and welcome us in.
