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Shrunken heads on display12/18/2023 Andrew Nelson, CC-BY 4.0ĭetermining an “authentic,” or ceremonially made tsantsa, from an “inauthentic,” or commercially made tsantsa, has proven difficult, even when using modern tools like computational tomography (the kind of CT scan you might undergo at a hospital) to peer inside their heads. Poeta’s team used traditional and more precise micro-CT technology to examine the tiny details of a tsantsa of Peruvian origin, ultimately creating this 3D-rendered image. “ Colonial processes, inconsistent settler narratives, and the mass creation and export of commercial shrunken heads led to where we are now, where it is hard to determine the true origin of the vast majority of tsantsas.” “There are no original records from the Shuar/Achuar peoples themselves of the process as it was a sacred ceremony, rather there’s a series of inconsistent and sometimes opposing accounts by missionaries, settlers, explorers,” Poeta tells Inverse. This research is part of Poeta’s broader work on funerary artifacts and Andean archaeology. Amid a worldwide reckoning with systemic racism in 2020, the University of Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum removed a tsantsa display that they felt “reinforced racist and stereotypical thinking” of other cultures, portraying them as “savage, primitive or gruesome.” These items likely included four forged objects crafted from bodies stolen from morgues or hospitals, The Guardian reported.ĭespite their widespread presence in Western museums, the true origin of many tsantsas is murky, says Lauren Poeta, an associate at Western University’s Office of Indigenous Initiatives in Canada and a former anthropology master’s student. If you’ve ever felt like you’re being watched while strolling through a museum, these small, intricate artifacts may be the culprit: Just over 3 inches tall with leathery skin and long, often luscious hair, tsantsas (commonly referred to in English as shrunken heads) hang inside display cases at museums around the world, far away from their homes with the Shuar and Achuar peoples in Ecuador and Northern Peru.ĭuring the 19th and 20th centuries, colonists viewed tsantsas as intriguing collectibles and purchased them with guns, sparking widespread violence.
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