In 1974
a magang ceremony
was observed in the homes of three different families in the penampang district of sabah. Each magang ceremony lasted seven days. The reasons for these rites were to propitiate or pay respect to the spirits that are believed to reside in the household skulls or to introduce the skulls to a new home or to a new building. The skulls are heirlooms from the days when head-hunting was practiced in this region. Great expense was incurred by each of the three households and that is probably one reason why a magang ceremony is rarely held-usually at intervals of thirty to forty years-in connection with each set of skulls. In a newspaper account reporting on one of the magang ceremonies in 1974 , it was suggested that there might never be another magang (kinabalu sabah times, 1974 : 10).