Putting Heads Together: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Museum Archaeology of the National Tsantsa Collection at the Pumapungo Museum, Cuenca

Summary

There are many collections of Tsantsas around the world. These shrunken heads were created by the Shuar and Achuar peoples of the Ecuadorian and Peruvian amazon until the mid-20th century. Though most of these museum collections have a known provenience, the individual histories and the authenticity of some of the heads has been contested. Similar questions have risen for Tsantsas held at the Pumapungo Ethnographic museum in the city of Cuenca, Ecuador. Using the approach of museum archaeologies, a multidisciplinary team including archaeologists, anthropologist and biologists has worked together with members of the Ecuadorian Shuar community to address these questions. During this talk some of the initial finds of the project will be presented, including medical digital images, and the viability of ancient DNA testing on this remains.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21904