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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