Shrunken Heads Ripley's Believe It or Not! Times Square! 


Believe It Or Not! these heads come from normal sized people. The Jivaro Indians of Ecuador claim their enemies' heads as symbols of bravery and displayed them - reduced to fist size - as war trophies. To shrink the head, the Jivaros slit the back of the neck and peeled the skin away from the skull. Once the skull was removed, they sew the head, including the eyes and mouth, back together. Hot stones and sand were poured into the vacant cavity and the head was boiled in a broth of secret herbs. Finally, the miniaturized head was cured over an open fire to give it a distinctive leathery texture.