The Ecuadorian newspaper, Hoy, published a fascinating story today describing the increase in sales of female tzanztas, or shrunken heads, which are trophies of Amazonian Shuar tribes who cut off the heads of their defeated enemies after battles and shrink them in a lengthy process involving herbal mixes and boiling and stuffing the skulls. These extraordinary objects have attracted anthropologists and collectors to the Ecuadorian and Peruvian jungles for decades, and a few pristine specimens can be viewed in the Banco Central museum in Cuenca. Until now, the tzantzas were always male heads, but recently female heads have been hitting the international collectors' market, and the police in the Ecuadorian province of Morona-Santiago are now concerned that at least six decapitated women discovered since 2005 may have been victims of tzantza traders. Female tzantzas appearing for sale at the German website, Exotic Trade, start at 6,900 euros.
1 comments:
omg. you've got to be kidding me?! what kind of people buy these tzantzas? eek!
Post a Comment