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Shrunken Heads: Tsantsa Trophies and Human Exotica. James L. Castner. Gainesville, FL: Feline Press, 2002. 160 pp.
For about one and a half centuries, the Shuar (in prior anthropological taxonomy, the Jívaro proper) of eastern Ecuador have been mainly known to the outside world for their now-defunct practice of making "shrunken head" trophies, or tsantsas, of enemies slain during raids on other tribes. The tsantsas, of course, are not heads that have been shrunken but simply the whole skins of heads that, through boiling, heating, and drying, have been reduced to about the size of a fist. Only two other tribes, the Jivaroan Huambisa and the Aguaruna, are reliably known to have engaged in the practice, although there are hints from Peruvian coastal archaeology that it may have been more widespread in prehistoric times.
James L. Castner's study, in a "coffee table" book format with numerous photographs, is a relatively serious attempt by a nonanthropologist to summarize what is known from the literature about tsantsas....