The Shaur and Achuar cultures who live in the upper amazon, we can thank for giving us the shrunken head! The Shaur live in the Upano Valley in eastern Ecuador and it was my mission to try to find a shrunken head while in Ecuador. The culture requires water just like any other culture but doesn't live near rivers. Also unique to their culture they don't use bows and arrows but only blowpipes.
To the dead, who do wrong during life, their heads are transformed into key chain sized charms. The skull is first removed and then the head undergoes a desiccation process of heating and cooling to shrink it down to size. Shrinking the head prevents the spirit from being able to seek revenge and also gives the spirits energy to their owner. The mouths and eyes are sewn shut to trap the spirit for eternity. Owning a head shows both braveness and power.
I came across 5 heads around Quito and they were awesome. They are smaller than a fist and still have their hair, eye brows and eye lashes. They are really unreal looking and a mythical thing that becomes a reality in person. You can look into their ears and see their hollowed heads. Its strange to fathom that these were actually really people with normal heads during life. You wonder what bad things they could have done to earn the right to have their heads shrunk. An awesome culture and interesting history!
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