Shrunken head

For the 1994 film, seeShrunken Heads (film).For the 2007 album by Ian Hunter, seeShrunken Heads (album).

Shrunken heads in the permanent collection ofYe Olde Curiosity Shop,Seattle

Ashrunken headis a severed and specially-preparedhuman head– often decreased to many times smaller than typical size – that is used for trophy, ritual, trade, or other purposes.

Headhuntingis believed to have occurred in many regions of the world sincetime immemorial,but the practice of headshrinkingper sehas only been documented in the northwestern region of theAmazon rainforest.Jivaroan peoples,which includes theShuar,Achuar,HuambisaandAguarunatribes fromEcuadorandPeru,are known to keep shrunken human heads.

Shuar people call a shrunken head atsantsa,alsotransliteratedtzantza.Many tribe leaders would display their heads to scare enemies.

Shrunken heads are known for theirmandibular prognathism,facial distortion, and shrinkage of the lateral sides of the forehead; these are artifacts of the shrinking process. Among theShuarandAchuar,the reduction of the heads was followed by a series of feasts centered on important rituals.

Technique

Shrunken head from theShuar people,on display in thePitt Rivers Museum,Oxford.

The process of creating a shrunken head begins with removing the skull from the neck. An incision is made on the back of the ear and all the skin and flesh is removed from the cranium. Red seeds are placed underneath the nostrils and the lips are sewn shut. The mouth is held together with three palm pins.Fatfrom the flesh of the head is removed. Then a wooden ball is placed under the flesh to keep the form. The flesh is then boiled in water that has been saturated with a number of herbs containingtannins.The head is then dried with hot rocks and sand while molding it to retain its human features. The skin is then rubbed with charcoal ash. Decorative beads may be added to the head.

In the head shrinking tradition, it is believed that coating the skin in ash keeps themuisak,or avenging soul, from seeping out.

Significance

Shrunken head exhibited at theLightner MuseuminSt. Augustine, Florida.

The practice of preparing shrunken heads originally had religious significance; shrinking the head of an enemy was believed to harness the spirit of that enemy and compel him to serve the shrinker. It was said to prevent the soul from avenging his death.

Shuar believed in the existence of three fundamental spirits:

• Wakani – innate to humans thus surviving their death.
• Arutam – literally "vision" or "power", protects humans from a violent death.
• Muisak –vengeful spirit,which surfaces when a person carrying an Arutam spirit is murdered.

To block a Muisak spirit from using its powers, they severed their enemies' heads and shrank them. The process also served as a way of warning their enemies. Despite these precautions, the owner of the trophy did not keep it for long. Many heads were later used in religious ceremonies and feasts that celebrated the victories of the tribe. Accounts vary as to whether the heads were discarded or stored.

Trade

When Westerners created an economic incentive for shrunken headsthere was a sharp increase in the rate of killings in an effort to supply tourists and collectors of ethnographic items.The terms 'headhunting' and 'headhunting parties' come from this practice.

Guns were usually what the Shuar acquired in exchange for their shrunken heads, the rate being one gun per head.But weapons were not the only itemsexchanged.Around 1910, shrunken heads were being sold by a curio shop inLimafor onePeruvian gold pound,equal in value to aBritish gold sovereign.In 1919, the price in Panama's curio shop for shrunken heads had risen to £5.By the 1930s, when heads were freely exchanged, a shrunken head could be purchased for about 25 U.S. dollars. This was stopped when the Peruvian and Ecuadorian governments cooperated to outlaw head trafficking.

Also encouraged by this trade, people inColombiaandPanamaunconnected to the Jívaros began to make counterfeittsantsas.They used corpses from morgues, or the heads ofmonkeysorsloths.Some used goatskin. Kate Duncan wrote in 2001 that "It has been estimated that about 80 percent of the tsantsas in private and museum hands are fraudulent", including almost all that are female or which include an entire torso rather than just a head.

Thor Heyerdahlrecounts inThe Kon-Tiki Expedition(1948) the various problems of getting into the Jívaro (Shuar) area in Ecuador to getbalsa woodfor his expedition raft. Local people would not guide his team into the jungle for fear of being killed and having their heads shrunk. In 1951 and 1952 sales of such items inLondonwere being advertised inThe Times,one example being priced at $250, a hundredfold appreciation since the early 20th century.

In 1999, theNational Museum of the American Indianrepatriated the authentic shrunken heads in its collection to Ecuador.Most other countries have also banned the trade. Currently, replica shrunken heads are manufactured as curios for thetouristtrade. These are made fromleatherand animal hides formed to resemble the originals.In 2019Mercer Universityrepatriated a shrunken head from their collections crediting theNative American Graves Protection and Repatriation Actas inspiration.

In 2020, Oxford University's Pitt Rivers Museum removed its collection of shrunken heads after an ethical review begun in 2017, as part of an effort todecolonizeits collections and avoid stereotyping.

In popular culture

Fake shrunken head in the Knight Bus,The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (Universal Orlando Resort)

In the novelMoby-Dick,the character Queequeg sells shrunken heads and gives his last as a gift to the narrator, Ishmael, who subsequently sells it himself.

In 1955,Disneylandopened itsJungle Cruiseride. Until recently, the attraction featured a trader selling shrunken heads (three of his for one of yours).

In 1975, Whiting (aMilton Bradleycompany) releasedVincent Price's Shrunken Head Apple Sculpture Kit.

In the 1946 movieThe Devil's Mask,a crashed plane that had a shrunken head aboard is the only clue to a mystery involving a secret code.

The 1988 movieBeetlejuicefeatured a ghost of a hunter whose head had been shrunken. At the end of the movie, the title character suffers the same fate.

One of the North American television commercials for the 1990 video gameDr. Mariofeatured head shrinking, as well as a cover of the songWitch Doctorwith slightly different lyrics.

In the 2004 film adaptation ofHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,Lenny Henryvoices Dre Head, a Jamaican accented shrunken head on the magicalKnight Bus.The same film features three more shrunken heads, voiced by Brian Bowles andPeter Serafinowicz,inside the wizard pubThe Three Broomsticks.

BothPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest(2006) andPirates of the Caribbean: At World's End(2007) feature shrunken heads.

The 2024 sequelBeetlejuice Beetlejuicefeatures the return of the hunter with the shrunken head, Bob, alongside many other Ghosts with shrunken heads now employed as Betelgeuse's personal call centre.

See also

• Mokomokai,preserved Māori heads also used as trade goods

References

• Duncan, Kate C. (2001),1001 Curious Things: Ye Olde Curiosity Shop and Native American Art,University of Washington Press, pp.146–147,ISBN0-295-98010-9.

External links

• Media related toShrunken headsat Wikimedia Commons