You can thank Robert Ripley for creating the market. 

-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Anna N. Dhody
Sent: Friday, November 04, 2005 9:30 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Headhunters

We actually have two shrunken heads in our Collection at the Mütter Museum. From what I gather the heads themselves were trophies taken after battle and carefully shrunken in a long, multi-stepped procedure. When they were completed they were given back to the warrior who had obtained the head on the battlefield after killing his opponent. These heads were considered trophies and ceremonial in nature. The orifices were sealed so as to trap the spirit of the slain warrior in the head. However, I was told that later on as Western tourists came to South America they began to buy the heads as souvenirs and they were in such demand that the indigenous tribes could not keep up with the demand by traditional methods and began to kill some of the tourists to supply the heads. I do not know if this is actually the case but I would be curious if someone could support or refute this.

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