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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