Freakatorium: The Collection of Johnny Fox

Vintage Shrunken Head. South American, early twentieth century. Displayed at Johnny Fox’s Freakatorium as an authentic shrunken head, but more likely an excellent vintage facsimile. Amazonian Jivaro tribes practiced ritual head shrinking for years. Today, shrunken heads are displayed in museums as treasured artifacts of warfare; however, to the Jivaros, the tsantsa was used to trap the muisak or avenging soul of slain persons. Although at one time the trade in actual shrunken heads was brisk, facsimile heads made of various leathers and human hair were substituted for the actual heads in commerce with tourists.