In a post on Science Alert, Mike McCrae reveals how to tell the difference between an authentic shrunken head and a gift store fake. Researchers in Canada, San Francisco, and Ecuador have developed a tool that using detailed X-ray scans to reveal details in cuts, anatomy, and stitching, by which they can separate a ceremonial shrunken head – called a tsantsa – from the commercial variety, which were fashioned from animal skin.
It’s not as easy as identifying human skin and hair, as even the authentic heads sometimes incorporated materials from animals. Rather, the kind of stitching, the shape of the ears and eye, and skin folds – the kind of detail only discernible by X-ray – can help you tell the difference. Even then, the line isn’t always clear, as some heads were made from stolen human remains, and were therefore commercially motivated, not ceremonial.
