page_title: Shrunken head
section_title: Significance
hierarchical_section_title: Shrunken head / Significance
caption_attribution_description: Shrunken head exhibited at the Lightner Museum, St. Augustine, Florida.
context_page_description: A shrunken head is a severed and specially prepared human head that is used for trophy, ritual, or trade purposes.
  Headhunting has occurred in many regions of the world, 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 have shrunken human heads.
  Shuar people call a shrunken head a tsantsa, also transliterated tzantza. Many tribe leaders would show off their heads to scare enemies.
context_section_description: The practice of preparing shrunken heads originally had religious significance; shrinking the head of an enemy was believed to harness the spirit of that enemy and compel him to serve the shrinker. It was said to prevent the soul from avenging his death.
  Shuar believed in the existence of three fundamental 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. The process also served as a way of warning their enemies. Despite these precautions, the owner of the trophy did not keep it for long. Many heads were later used in religious ceremonies and feasts that celebrated the victories of the tribe. Accounts vary as to whether the heads would be discarded or stored.
caption: Shrunken head exhibited at the Lightner Museum in St. Augustine, Florida.
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