Shrunken Head DNA Proves Horrific Folklore True [ Doh! ]

Discovery News ^ | Tuesday, June 14, 2011 | Jennifer Viegas

[SunkenCiv]

THE GIST

• The genetic make-up of a shrunken head has been obtained for the first time.
• The DNA analysis reveals that the head is authentic and belonged to an Afro-Ecuadorian man.
• The genetic evidence suggests many myths about head-hunting were true.

[SunkenCiv]

DNA analysis from this shrunken head proves anecdotal accounts of head-hunting in South America. [Gila Kahila Bar-Gal]

[SunkenCiv]

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[Sacajaweau]

They've found shrunken heads before...Can't see where DNA would prove anything as far as anecdotal accounts.

But write a little thesis and get that grant money!!

[calex59]

What myths? Headhunting is a known fact and probably still exists in the Amazon. The Jivaros were one of the most well known of the headhunting tribes when I was a boy.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

I'm guessing that the reason they have the head in a museum "focusing on the history and culture of the Land of Israel" is that they might have thought it was one of the heads of Jews killed in the Holocaust that the Nazis allegedly shrank, hence the DNA testing.

The other reason for the testing was to determine whether it was real. The article says that something like 80% of the 'shrunken heads" are really fakes.

[SaraJohnson]

Right. I did not realize PC diversity history had developed “myth” myths about head hunters.

Well now they are foiled, I guess but it won’t stop them from denying it as a myth of “white racism.”

[pallis]

Handsome fellow.

[aces]

ewwwww, sure its not uhbummer at night?

[Ken H]

The article says that something like 80% of the 'shrunken heads" are really fakes.

So the one I've got hanging from the rear view mirror may not be genuine?

[sphinx]

What myths? Headhunting is a known fact and probably still exists in the Amazon.

Mustn't be cynical about other cultures. All cultures are equal, don'tcha know. I'm sure these Amazonian dudes were every bit as impeccably mannered as my own Celtic and Germanic ancestors, who ....

Oops, never mind.

[Beowulf9]

I don’t understand? How is it these people didn’t evolve?/sarc

[CrazyIvan]

Looks a little like Kieth Richards.

[Bernard Marx]

"If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you..." Kipling

[JoeProBono]

[decimon]

The study of the DNA in this shrunken head confirms that shrunken heads exist?

Didn't you read the article? This is proof that violent head-hunting existed. There goes the theory of gentle head-hunting.

Kahila Bar-Gal

Proof of the existence of bar girls in Israel.

[ZULU]

I always thought the idea of taking and shrinking the heads of one’s enemies was really a capital idea. Great thing to hang from one’s rear view mirror!

Seriously I have read books on the Shuar and Tsantas and the reality is rather less than this. Based on my readings, this is a manufactured head for commerce.

The REAL Jivaro (Shuar) WERE ferocious warriors, But they were deeply superstitious and lived in a world of suspicion, curses, and evil spirits. When someone died in a Shuar community, it was believed to be the work of a curse pronounced by a neighboring community. The Community in which the dead person lived could only be protected if an enemy from the suspected Shuar community was killed and his head taken and shrunk. The head had the eyes and mouth sewn shut to keep the spirit of the dead warrior from escaping and harming the community. It was either rare or non-existent for a GENUINE Tsanta to be taken from a non-Jivaro enemy as they were not believed to possess these powers.

At any rate, that is MY recollection of what I had read on this fascinating subject.

[SunkenCiv]

a capital idea.

That remark warrants the fancy one!

[SunkenCiv]

Since there were a lot of victims, maybe it was a cereal killer. Oh, wait — that only happens in vegetarian societies.