Small Shrunken Head (Tsantsa)
Product Description
Vintage Ecuadorian Tsantsa (Shrunken Head). Circa 1930s-1940s. A shrunken head is a severed and specially prepared human head, often decreased to many times smaller than typical size. Shrunken heads were produced to trap souls; once done, the soul had no way of escaping.
Headhunting occurred in many regions of the world since time immemorial, but the practice of headshrinking has only been documented in the northwestern region of the Amazon rainforest. Jivaroan peoples, which includes the Shuar, Achuar, Huambisa and Aguaruna tribes from Ecuador and Peru, are known to keep shrunken human heads.
Shuar people call a shrunken head a Tsantsa. Many tribe leaders would display their heads to scare enemies. The skin of this head is probably goat with real hair, but the same process on actual shrunken heads is used in making these. Beautifully displayed in a Glass Dome Cloche.
7" x 4" x 4"
