Shrunken head

[1] Jivaroan peoples, which includes the Shuar, Achuar, Huambisa and Aguaruna tribes from Ecuador and Peru, are known to keep shrunken human heads.

Shrunken heads are known for their mandibular prognathism, facial distortion, and shrinkage of the lateral sides of the forehead; these are artifacts of the shrinking process.

[citation needed] The process of creating a shrunken head begins with removing the skull from the neck.

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

[citation needed] Also encouraged by this trade, people in Colombia and Panama unconnected to the Jívaros began to make counterfeit tsantsas.

In 1951 and 1952 sales of such items in London were being advertised in The Times; one example was priced at $250, a hundredfold appreciation since the early 20th century.

[7] In 1999, the National Museum of the American Indian repatriated the authentic shrunken heads in its collection to Ecuador.

In the 1949 children's novel Amazon Adventure by Willard Price, the character John Hunt buys a shrunken head for the American Museum of Natural History from a Jivaro chief, who explains the shrinking process.

[10][11] In 1975, Whiting (a Milton Bradley company) released Vincent Price's Shrunken Head Apple Sculpture Kit.

[12] In the 1946 movie The Devil's Mask, a crashed plane with a shrunken head aboard is the only clue to a mystery involving a secret code.

One of the North American television commercials for the 1990 video game Dr. Mario featured head shrinking, as well as a cover of the song Witch Doctor with slightly different lyrics.

The same film features three more shrunken heads, voiced by Brian Bowles and Peter Serafinowicz, inside the wizard pub The Three Broomsticks.