The above head was given to me by Edward Harris Pratt of Dover Massachusetts in 1957. His wife's uncle was an explorer who brought it out of Ecuador in 1916. He saw the donor alive, but I don't remember the details. He nearly lost his life on this adventure. The book he wrote described the shrinking process.

It's a female head harvested for the tourist aftermarket. Mouth is not stitched. Jivaro chauvinists believed that soul escapes through the mouth. No danger of this with female head, because women have no souls. Moths ate the hair in the 1930s. Probably the old girl was murdered, although she has a serene look. In 2004 I sold her to a doctor from Germany.

Caution: Don't try this at home! For educational purposes only:

Procure head donor. Cut off donor's head. Make incision halfway up back of scalp. Slip entire face and scalp off skull like rubber mask. Sew incision back up. Fill head pouch with hot sand. Bury in hot sand. Repeat sand process until head reaches desired size.