Cecil, I’ve got a question for you that has me stumped. How are shrunken heads made? I’m sure they have to take the skull out, but how? And why do certain cultures shrink human heads anyway? -Headhunter Joe, via AOL
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Finally the raiders returned home, and the whole tribe celebrated with a series of ritualized drunken revels. These events were the highlight of the Jivaro social calendar and gave the warriors a chance to show off their catch, no doubt the real point of the whole enterprise. Oddly enough, the heads were often discarded later or sold as curios. This became such a profitable business that the Jivaro began staging raids primarily to obtain heads for the tourist trade. Selling heads was made illegal, but new merchandise continued to show up until fairly recently, with choice specimens going for thousands of dollars. (Beware of fakes, however, which can be identified by their overly precise needlework.)
