A bizarre shrunken head once used as part of a grisly film prop has been confirmed to a real 'ceremonial tsantsa' and repatriated to Ecuador, where it was made.
Experts from the Mercer University in Georgia — among whose collections the head was found — examined the artefact to confirm that it was indeed genuine.
Their analysis involved a comparison of the head with known authentic tsantsas — looking at features including its size, facial structure and hairstyle.
The tsantsa, whose exact origins are unclear, was acquired by a former member of the Mercer Faculty in 1942 and was displayed before being forgotten in storage.
In the late seventies, it was loaned out for the production of the film 'Wise Blood', where it can be seen, replete with added body, in several scenes.
Tsantsas — or 'shrunken heads' — are cultural artefacts that were produced by certain indigenous cultures of Ecuador and Peru until around the middle of the 20th century.
These cultures included the Amazonian Shuar, Achuar, Awajún/ Aguaruna, Wampís/Huambisa and Candoshi-Shampra.
Typically crafted by men in an elaborate, multi-step process, shrunken heads are made from made from the cranial skin of enemies slain in combat.
It was believed that tsantsas contain the spirit and knowledge of the individual from whom they were produced — and were thus regarded to hold supernatural power that could be conferred to the owner of the head.
Tsantsas were used in ceremonial rituals — involving a feast — in which the power of a given shrunken head could be transferred to a household.
Following the ritual, the supernatural power was regarded to have left the shrunken head, at which point the tsantsas itself originally became nothing more than a keepsake.
However, the influence of European and colonial visitors in the nineteenth century saw post-ceremony tsantsas acquire a commercial value, with their owners willing to trade them away.
Demand for the curios soon outstripped supply, resulting in a market of inauthentic tsantsas — some made from human remains, other from animal heads or synthetic materials — for export to European and North American purchasers.
I love the fact that no matter how horrific the practice as long as it's 'cultural' then Imperialism is blamed for being insensitive.
We stopped Sati/Suttee in India - was that wrong to do so?
John Doe said
May 11 8:40 PM, 2021
Digger wrote:
Not something I'd have in my home.
Why not?
You could be twins!
Digger said
May 11 10:46 PM, 2021
John Doe wrote:
I love the fact that no matter how horrific the practice as long as it's 'cultural' then Imperialism is blamed for being insensitive.
We stopped Sati/Suttee in India - was that wrong to do so?
I suspect if it hadn't been banned, it would be still going on today. I think the last one was in the 1980s.
Digger said
May 11 10:47 PM, 2021
You know this is my whole argument when these woke nutters bang about not wanting to be called a 'woman'. For women the battle for equality has been raging since men realised they had a dick. We've fought long and hard to be called a woman and treated as an equal while being female.
John Doe said
May 11 11:08 PM, 2021
Digger wrote:
John Doe wrote:
I love the fact that no matter how horrific the practice as long as it's 'cultural' then Imperialism is blamed for being insensitive.
We stopped Sati/Suttee in India - was that wrong to do so?
I suspect if it hadn't been banned, it would be still going on today. I think the last one was in the 1980s.
Yeah, incredible how barbaric a practice that was.
John Doe said
May 11 11:09 PM, 2021
Digger wrote:
You know this is my whole argument when these woke nutters bang about not wanting to be called a 'woman'. For women the battle for equality has been raging since men realised they had a dick. We've fought long and hard to be called a woman and treated as an equal while being female.
Yeah exactly- it does my head in.
Syl said
May 12 12:54 PM, 2021
John Doe wrote:
Digger wrote:
You know this is my whole argument when these woke nutters bang about not wanting to be called a 'woman'. For women the battle for equality has been raging since men realised they had a dick. We've fought long and hard to be called a woman and treated as an equal while being female.
Yeah exactly- it does my head in.
Maddog said
May 12 5:05 PM, 2021
Syl wrote:
John Doe wrote:
Digger wrote:
You know this is my whole argument when these woke nutters bang about not wanting to be called a 'woman'. For women the battle for equality has been raging since men realised they had a dick. We've fought long and hard to be called a woman and treated as an equal while being female.
Yeah exactly- it does my head in.
That was one of the funniest things he's ever said. I'm not sure he even realizes it.
Syl said
May 12 6:40 PM, 2021
Maddog wrote:
Syl wrote:
John Doe wrote:
Digger wrote:
You know this is my whole argument when these woke nutters bang about not wanting to be called a 'woman'. For women the battle for equality has been raging since men realised they had a dick. We've fought long and hard to be called a woman and treated as an equal while being female.
Yeah exactly- it does my head in.
That was one of the funniest things he's ever said. I'm not sure he even realizes it.
I know...he wasn't even being flippant.
John Doe said
May 12 7:18 PM, 2021
Syl wrote:
Maddog wrote:
Syl wrote:
John Doe wrote:
Digger wrote:
You know this is my whole argument when these woke nutters bang about not wanting to be called a 'woman'. For women the battle for equality has been raging since men realised they had a dick. We've fought long and hard to be called a woman and treated as an equal while being female.
Yeah exactly- it does my head in.
That was one of the funniest things he's ever said. I'm not sure he even realizes it.
I know...he wasn't even being flippant.
This was a classic!
-- Edited by John Doe on Wednesday 12th of May 2021 07:35:31 PM
Digger said
May 12 10:09 PM, 2021
John Doe wrote:
Syl wrote:
Maddog wrote:
Syl wrote:
John Doe wrote:
Digger wrote:
You know this is my whole argument when these woke nutters bang about not wanting to be called a 'woman'. For women the battle for equality has been raging since men realised they had a dick. We've fought long and hard to be called a woman and treated as an equal while being female.
Yeah exactly- it does my head in.
That was one of the funniest things he's ever said. I'm not sure he even realizes it.
I know...he wasn't even being flippant.
This was a classic!
-- Edited by John Doe on Wednesday 12th of May 2021 07:35:31 PM
That was me on the dance floor years ago. I always managed to pull the short weird ugly ones.
John Doe said
May 12 10:18 PM, 2021
Digger wrote:
John Doe wrote:
Syl wrote:
Maddog wrote:
Syl wrote:
John Doe wrote:
Digger wrote:
You know this is my whole argument when these woke nutters bang about not wanting to be called a 'woman'. For women the battle for equality has been raging since men realised they had a dick. We've fought long and hard to be called a woman and treated as an equal while being female.
Yeah exactly- it does my head in.
That was one of the funniest things he's ever said. I'm not sure he even realizes it.
I know...he wasn't even being flippant.
This was a classic!
-- Edited by John Doe on Wednesday 12th of May 2021 07:35:31 PM
That was me on the dance floor years ago. *I always managed to pull the short weird ugly ones.
I can just imagine with your good looks - did you plan escape routes?
*Yes I did manage to avoid making a smutty remark about your second sentence!
-- Edited by John Doe on Wednesday 12th of May 2021 10:22:08 PM
Syl said
May 12 11:32 PM, 2021
Digger wrote:
John Doe wrote:
Syl wrote:
Maddog wrote:
Syl wrote:
John Doe wrote:
Digger wrote:
You know this is my whole argument when these woke nutters bang about not wanting to be called a 'woman'. For women the battle for equality has been raging since men realised they had a dick. We've fought long and hard to be called a woman and treated as an equal while being female.
Yeah exactly- it does my head in.
That was one of the funniest things he's ever said. I'm not sure he even realizes it.
I know...he wasn't even being flippant.
This was a classic!
-- Edited by John Doe on Wednesday 12th of May 2021 07:35:31 PM
That was me on the dance floor years ago. I always managed to pull the short weird ugly ones.
Pity we didn't know each other back then, you could have had mine too.
For some reason I used to get a lot of the small in stature men come over to me asking for a dance....I knew when I stood up I would tower over them...so I used the 'bad leg' excuse a lot.
John Doe said
May 13 12:18 AM, 2021
Syl wrote:
Digger wrote:
John Doe wrote:
Syl wrote:
Maddog wrote:
Syl wrote:
John Doe wrote:
Digger wrote:
You know this is my whole argument when these woke nutters bang about not wanting to be called a 'woman'. For women the battle for equality has been raging since men realised they had a dick. We've fought long and hard to be called a woman and treated as an equal while being female.
Yeah exactly- it does my head in.
That was one of the funniest things he's ever said. I'm not sure he even realizes it.
I know...he wasn't even being flippant.
This was a classic!
-- Edited by John Doe on Wednesday 12th of May 2021 07:35:31 PM
That was me on the dance floor years ago. I always managed to pull the short weird ugly ones.
Pity we didn't know each other back then, you could have had mine too.
For some reason I used to get a lot of the small in stature men come over to me asking for a dance....I knew when I stood up I would tower over them...so I used the 'bad leg' excuse a lot.
Bad leg?
How very convincing!
You might as well just have said -
"Bugger off you ugly little short arse!"
Maddog said
May 13 6:55 AM, 2021
I remember persistently asking a cute girl to dance who was sitting at a table with friends. She finally agreed and she was easily 7 if not 8 months pregnant. 😳
Syl said
May 13 12:31 PM, 2021
Maddog wrote:
I remember persistently asking a cute girl to dance who was sitting at a table with friends. She finally agreed and she was easily 7 if not 8 months pregnant. 😳
I can imagine your face when she stood up.
Re the shorter men asking tall women to dance, it seldom seemed to bother men if the girl was taller...I am 5'8'' without heels, I think I got more requests from the 5'5"s than the 6 footers.
Syl said
May 13 1:40 PM, 2021
John Doe wrote:
Syl wrote:
Digger wrote:
John Doe wrote:
Syl wrote:
Maddog wrote:
Syl wrote:
John Doe wrote:
Digger wrote:
You know this is my whole argument when these woke nutters bang about not wanting to be called a 'woman'. For women the battle for equality has been raging since men realised they had a dick. We've fought long and hard to be called a woman and treated as an equal while being female.
Yeah exactly- it does my head in.
That was one of the funniest things he's ever said. I'm not sure he even realizes it.
I know...he wasn't even being flippant.
This was a classic!
-- Edited by John Doe on Wednesday 12th of May 2021 07:35:31 PM
That was me on the dance floor years ago. I always managed to pull the short weird ugly ones.
Pity we didn't know each other back then, you could have had mine too.
For some reason I used to get a lot of the small in stature men come over to me asking for a dance....I knew when I stood up I would tower over them...so I used the 'bad leg' excuse a lot.
Bad leg?
How very convincing!
You might as well just have said -
"Bugger off you ugly little short arse!"
Well put it this way, if 6ft Gina Davies (in the pic) was approached by diminutive Al Pacino (for eg) for a dance....I bet she would suddenly develop a bad leg too.
A bizarre shrunken head once used as part of a grisly film prop has been confirmed to a real 'ceremonial tsantsa' and repatriated to Ecuador, where it was made.
Experts from the Mercer University in Georgia — among whose collections the head was found — examined the artefact to confirm that it was indeed genuine.
Their analysis involved a comparison of the head with known authentic tsantsas — looking at features including its size, facial structure and hairstyle.
The tsantsa, whose exact origins are unclear, was acquired by a former member of the Mercer Faculty in 1942 and was displayed before being forgotten in storage.
In the late seventies, it was loaned out for the production of the film 'Wise Blood', where it can be seen, replete with added body, in several scenes.
Tsantsas — or 'shrunken heads' — are cultural artefacts that were produced by certain indigenous cultures of Ecuador and Peru until around the middle of the 20th century.
These cultures included the Amazonian Shuar, Achuar, Awajún/ Aguaruna, Wampís/Huambisa and Candoshi-Shampra.
Typically crafted by men in an elaborate, multi-step process, shrunken heads are made from made from the cranial skin of enemies slain in combat.
It was believed that tsantsas contain the spirit and knowledge of the individual from whom they were produced — and were thus regarded to hold supernatural power that could be conferred to the owner of the head.
Tsantsas were used in ceremonial rituals — involving a feast — in which the power of a given shrunken head could be transferred to a household.
Following the ritual, the supernatural power was regarded to have left the shrunken head, at which point the tsantsas itself originally became nothing more than a keepsake.
However, the influence of European and colonial visitors in the nineteenth century saw post-ceremony tsantsas acquire a commercial value, with their owners willing to trade them away.
Demand for the curios soon outstripped supply, resulting in a market of inauthentic tsantsas — some made from human remains, other from animal heads or synthetic materials — for export to European and North American purchasers.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-9562509
Just shows though, the trout pout isn't new.
I love the fact that no matter how horrific the practice as long as it's 'cultural' then Imperialism is blamed for being insensitive.
We stopped Sati/Suttee in India - was that wrong to do so?
Why not?
You could be twins!
I suspect if it hadn't been banned, it would be still going on today. I think the last one was in the 1980s.
Yeah, incredible how barbaric a practice that was.
Yeah exactly- it does my head in.
That was one of the funniest things he's ever said. I'm not sure he even realizes it.
I know...he wasn't even being flippant.
This was a classic!
-- Edited by John Doe on Wednesday 12th of May 2021 07:35:31 PM
That was me on the dance floor years ago. I always managed to pull the short weird ugly ones.
I can just imagine with your good looks - did you plan escape routes?
*Yes I did manage to avoid making a smutty remark about your second sentence!
-- Edited by John Doe on Wednesday 12th of May 2021 10:22:08 PM
Pity we didn't know each other back then, you could have had mine too.
For some reason I used to get a lot of the small in stature men come over to me asking for a dance....I knew when I stood up I would tower over them...so I used the 'bad leg' excuse a lot.
Bad leg?
How very convincing!
You might as well just have said -
"Bugger off you ugly little short arse!"
I can imagine your face when she stood up.
Re the shorter men asking tall women to dance, it seldom seemed to bother men if the girl was taller...I am 5'8'' without heels, I think I got more requests from the 5'5"s than the 6 footers.
Well put it this way, if 6ft Gina Davies (in the pic) was approached by diminutive Al Pacino (for eg) for a dance....I bet she would suddenly develop a bad leg too.