The outside of a Longhouse used by the Iban tribe (fig.) in Borneo, a communal one-room building in the jungle, which is locally known as rumah panjang.

Characteristically, Iban longhouses, including this one along the Lemanak River, have a large and wide balcony, which is used for all kinds of outdoor activities.

It is also used to dry laundry and a variety of crops, which are spread out on large bamboo mats.

Borneo Longhouses are built on stilts for protection from flooding and cooling by air. Like most tribal houses on stilts, the place underneath is usually used as a shelter against the sun or rain, and is often utilized to keep domestic animals.

On the inside, the living area is one large undivided space, which is shared with a number of families. There are also a number of human skulls hanging from the ceiling (fig.), a reminder of this tribe's past practice of headhunting.