How are Shrunken Heads made and five other disturbing facts about the headshrinking practice

But what exactly is it and what are some disturbing facts about it? Here's the lowdown…

How are Shrunken Heads made?

The process of creating a shrunken head starts with removing the skull from the neck.

Then, an incision is made on the back of the ear and all the skin and flesh is removed from the cranium.

Red seeds are put in place under the nostrils and the lips are sewn shut.

The mouth is held together with three pins.

Fat is removed from the head's flesh and a wooden ball is placed under the flesh so that it will keep the form.

The flesh is then boiled in water that has been saturated with a number of herbs.

The head is then dried with hot rocks and sand and the skin is rubbed down with charcoal ash.

After these steps are completed, some added beads to decorate the heads.

Originally, shrinking heads had a religious significance for the tribes in the northwestern region of the Amazon rainforest.

Shrinking the head of an enemy was believed to tackle the spirit of that enemy.

Shrinking heads was said to prevent the soul from avenging his death.

The tribes believed in the existence of three main 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 from using its powers, they severed their enemies' heads and shrank them, which was also their way of warning their enemies.

The practice originated from the northwestern region of the Amazon rainforest.

The only tribes known to have shrunken human heads are of the Jivaroan tribes.

These include the Shuar, Achuar, Huambisa and Aguaruna tribes, found in Ecuador and Peru.

Many tribe leaders showed off their heads to scare enemies.