Here's Exactly How Shrunken Heads Are Made

A scientist's visit to a Shuar elder in Ecuador reveals the secrets of the ceremonial tradition of head shrinking. Now the scientist has set himself a gruesome goal to do it himself.
From the Series: Secrets: Shrunken Heads bit.ly/2hKUYH6

[@ThatHippyDuck]

"now he must put his newfound knowledge into practice." I sure hope the fuh not.

[@drmantistobboggangonzodr3961]

I thought "Must he, though?" It's not like it's required. I would, and wanted to see it done with a human head although there are probably laws against it in many places and I doubt most people would volunteer to have their head or their loved ones head used for this as it's more of a curiosity than a scientific experiment as it's been done many times before and we have tons of examples of it, although I do think there is some scientific merit as it is educational IMHO. Pig skin is a great substitute as it is very similar to people skin. It has also been used in ballistics research with ballistic gel behind the skin.

[@Anthony-zr8gp]

0:50 I actually thought someone donated his head for science. End it up being a pigs head :(

[@twaynewade2544]

shane 99 this is not science

[@twaynewade2544]

no. its not.

[@thebakeddonut2038]

shane 99 what a waste of bacon

[@Anthony-zr8gp]

ocean man If this is not science, wtf is it then? Art?

[@lenczie444]

Same bruh

[@imconfused5705]

I demand a tutorial with a real human head.

[@montegonzilla7027]

I'm Confused love your pic

[@drphilisalwayswatching5993]

W J I lmfaoooo I actually laughed out loud 😂😭

[@indigenousspinster_6665]

@W J Head shrinkinf was only done in South America

[@Yes-gk9rb]

U cannibal

[@nemophilaaurita8856]

Go to the dark web I’m sure you find lots of similar vids

[@tntcake6327]

i really appreciate all the shots of his glasses or hands, and ofcourse, the blurry shots from across the room. really shows how to do it.

[@peternierop3241]

what point is blurring the video. Either make the damned video or stay away.

[@rhyfelwrDuw]

Was thinking along the same lines

[@strain121]

Blur? Which part?

[@ojeda5577]

Justin Watson hahahahahahahahaa

[@elliot_rat]

when was being squeamish being a "special snowflake" humans are naturally disgusted by gore because it's their bodies trying to say "hey don't eat that yet" or "stay away from that"

[@JULi3T16]

there was nothing blurred for me 🙈

[@chairde]

How crazy was the first guy who tried to shrink a human head? How many heads did he go through before he got it right? He must have been a scary person.

[@ShishirUpadhyaye-fk5rg]

What maybe scary and morbid to us can be super fun and exciting to others, If we observe various tribes in the world we start seeing a pattern, people celebrate the death more than the birth

[@Angelman_1]

It probably wasn't developed overnight by one person. It took generations to perfect it.

[@ThePretear691987]

For awhile, I thought he's going to use a real human head 😱 then got disappointed when it was a pig's head instead

[@elsakristina2689]

Marie Jaja Roa well, pig flesh is closest to human flesh...

[@zenmaster8826]

so it's a male's head...lol

[@sharkieO_O]

Marie Jaja Roa my dude he legit said it was a pig head before he started shrinking it even if you didn’t hear that who the hell has a head looking like a pig?

[@mimijoner4234]

Firstsharkie they didn’t say it until you actually saw it. Pretty sure a lot of people thought the were gonna use a human head (hence the 80+ likes to the OP) I thought they were too at first.

[@sharkieO_O]

mimi joner to be fair it would be illegal to use a human head unless the government had given permission for scientific purposes, so it was kinda obvious they weren’t gonna use a human head unless they where in some remote area.

[@chairshoe81]

they all look like lil wayne

[@Dreaded88]

Chances are it's his Granpappy, and Cousin's! *_:D_*

[@kyoudoku]

Vaughn reed jr what the fuck

[@paulmoran8564]

Yea. Ok.

[@TeenAlchemy]

Slightly racist

[@Mr.Highasfuck]

YOUNG MOULA BABY

[@AnarchistPoop]

Its disturbing even more that when they did this, they honestly thought they were trapping someone's spirit into that tiny prison forever. The malice of it.

[@user-ho1ih1uj6w]

Who knows if it's real

[@ahmadhamameh3819]

​@@user-ho1ih1uj6w I know it isn't Dead cells don't perform biological functions, let alone holding that "spirit" that some ppl think exists

[@kimbeach7185]

They where so gullible back then.... No wait.. People still are

[@AnarchistPoop]

@@kimbeach7185 Try to live in the wild at the mercy of nature and the gruesome cruelty of your fellow humans, and let's see how "guillible" you become.

[@Gnomelander1400]

I would too if the other tribes were cannibalistic savages

[@SunnyTheOpossum]

“FINALLY, he irons the skin”

[@officialdriverstudios8868]

Or else he gets the hose again

[@rickrolledtruth5834]

1st rub the lotion

[@Toastmaster_5000]

@@officialdriverstudios8868 The hose of boiling water

[@mercedesgomez8258]

🤣

[@mike814031]

@@officialdriverstudios8868 lololol

[@005connect9]

Oh wow, and here I am boiling my heads with the skull still inside!!!! What was I thinking? Thanks so much for the insight!

[@complexobjects]

You know I've always wondered how they shrunk those heads. And now I know and can put it into practice. Refining the ancient techniques with a modern twist.

[@peachy_ashley6505]

💀💀💀oh my goodness

[@Time_Is_Left]

You bedazzle?

[@emminor]

I was supposed to have a mental health care day but now I know how to shrink a head. Thanks KZbin algorithm.

[@user-zx4vd5hc3d]

When I die, scientists have my full permission to shrink my mf head.

[@YouTubeUzername]

😂😂

[@mr.blister4856]

Same

[@s.a.morris8625]

....wonder if hot rocks will smooth the wrinkles on my face...?...

[@altero1052]

There's only one way to find out

[@YaGirlSyber]

S.A. Morris think about it. Most burn victims scars are tight and appear shiny. It'd probably be so tight that there'd be stress wrinkles like when you pull saram wrap tight.

[@kendrei]

I recommend molten lava its way hotter and smoother

[@TrystinEatsBabies]

There are hot stone treatments at spas. They tighten the pores.

[@kaytlinjustis5643]

No, it will BURN and PEEL your skin!

[@qai8087]

And DISCOVER, the man behind the shrunken head.... dun dun dun dun~

[@chagrinscooby1175]

And he would've gotten away with it to if it wasn't for those meddling kids.

[@raymondcantlay9875]

F. U .Scooby Doo.

[@howardford6991]

I remember when I was a child in elementary school back in the 1960s. About once a year the school would have what I can only describe as a "science bus" that would pull up to the school, and all of the kids in the school were allowed to go out and walk through the bus. It was a big bus........like a Greyhound bus, or one of those tour buses...........and it was a rolling science exhibit on wheels. My guess is that it probably made the rounds to elementary schools all over the country. Not sure who owned it or where it came from, but there were no seats in the bus except for the driver's seat. The inside of the bus was lined with glass enclosed display cases that had all kinds of cool "science stuff" for the kids to look at. One of those cases had a shrunken head on a shelf behind the glass. I remember being so freaked out by that......I was probably 8-9 yrs old. I remember thinking even way back then that this was just WRONG. I remember feeling sad for the shrunken heads family.....hey, cut me some slack, I was just a child, lol. I also remember wondering how in the world anybody could think that this was OK........showing such a morbid item to a bunch of little kids. It creeped me out and gave me nightmares.

[@Kelly_C]

as a kid, I thought shrunken heads were just mummified or something

[@judith8161]

Whoever thought it was okay to show a shrunken head to a bunch of little kids must have suffered from a serious case of shrunken brain syndrome!

[@teresah268]

Omg I had forgotten about that. I didn't go to one of those but my sister did and came home to tell us about it. I don't remember now what she saw just that there were stuff in jars. It sounded horrifying but in a way I wanted to see it too and was disappointed when they never had it at the school again. We did take trips to the museum of science and history where they had a shrunken head on display. I found it interesting and scary, but isn't that basically most things in history?

[@momogogo3395]

Youre born in 1960 and use lol?

[@YaGirlSyber]

Howard Ford 😂😂😂 that wouldn't fly now your school would have made the news 😭😭 "hey kids look at this mini head!" Like actually what the fuck 💀

[@ricmamaddafakka7248]

Lil Wayne pretty much did it successfully with the lean !

[@jeremybradley559]

Ricma Maddafakka what with some pissant codine and cough syrup and soft drink , yeah he thought he was hard , no one that knows anything about drugs thought he was hard in the slightest.

[@wendyjackson2449]

Wow 😂😂

[@ricmamaddafakka7248]

@@jeremybradley559 he shrunk his head

[@BloedEnBodem]

What is a lil wayne?

[@ricmamaddafakka7248]

@@BloedEnBodem its standard Wayne, just lil.

[@kpepperl319]

Hold on to your head...

[@LyonLars]

Kayan L ayyeee get back to Azkaban

[@bunbunbunny7214]

Ayooooo

[@dbapto6994]

Keep your head still . It's hard for me to shrink it with you jerking around.

[@rafaelsumano]

Anyone else disappointed they didn’t use a real human head?

[@kaytlinjustis5643]

NO I'M NOT! >.

[@nazmunnahar1163]

Not disappointed...GLAD!

[@sonofgod2656]

Give them yours

[@jesscooney8443]

Yep

[@andeleon6838]

I hope institutions that accept live body donations are more popular. Humans are born without their consent, technically they have the right to voluntarily die. Especially if the body is gonna be used scientific purposes anyway, then it's justified.

[@JasonJacksonJames]

I don't understand Is the back of the head's skin sealed too ? And is the sand still inside the head ?

[@DaniOnDemand]

+N S Right? The whole time I was thinking, how can you call this a head once you take the skull out? It's literally a shrunken face now.

[@DaniOnDemand]

+N S Right? The whole time I was thinking, how can you call this a head once you take the skull out? It's literally a shrunken face now.

[@janicegarbrah4514]

Good thing this was in my recommendations I seriously need to learn how to make a shrunken head

[@TimDyck]

Obtaining the head is the tough part...unless your a psychopath.

[@wedgewizard5429]

Very interesting. I am a little disappointed they merely shrink the skin by boiling it, most of the actual head is removed, no wonder it shrinks.

[@glenngilbert7389]

I remember seeing my first shrunken head in the ethnography museum in Amsterdam and I was fascinated. I've had an interest in them ever since

[@TheWheelofLife100]

I shouldn’t have watch this,should have quit while I was a-head.

[@TheWheelofLife100]

angry baekhyun yawn ....I put vegemite on my biscuits, yummy.

[@thebakeddonut2038]

TheWheelofLife100 Lame joke Fuck yoo

[@TheWheelofLife100]

TheBakedDonut20 ....your most welcome.

[@thebakeddonut2038]

TheWheelofLife100 😐 heck yoo sir

[@Solitaryjewels]

TheWheelofLife100 lame ass nigga

[@ktmad]

Still love the transition Smithsonian do from "Shrunken Head" to the jolly "It's brighter here"

[@damnitstroubleman]

I almost want to try this myself.

[@genevincent9488]

Try it yourself or try it on yourself? if you try it on yourself your gonna have to buy a whole wardrobe of new hats.

[@jejo7802]

+Gene Vincent 😁

[@damnitstroubleman]

I was getting tired of my old hats anyways.

[@chrismennega3042]

@@damnitstroubleman pigs head from a local butcher is not to expensive

[@acbenepe]

Speaking as a professional creature fx person, the stitching may have kept the spirit in but it definitely kept the rocks and sand in.

[@Patriot-jr7nr]

“Now he must put this new found knowledge into practice”. Say sike right now

[@elliotnyberg9332]

wtf am i watching

[@twaynewade2544]

Elliot Nyberg now thats a shrunken head.

[@evanfaubert3861]

Elliot Nyberg welcome to the weird side of youtube

[@zatrat5696]

The person in your profile picture has a shrunken head

[@wellesradio]

Something much better than the top 20 KZbin channels combined.

[@MT-nb3ql]

Education

[@jamieostrowski4447]

I'm so glad this information is now preserved.

[@nimasarlak]

I know a person who claims had lived among xivaros/jivaros and he mentioned they used a special potion in order to made shrunken heads, the potion came from plants native to area , he said the skin is boiled in that special potion, he also mentioned use of sand, the only thing different here is the use of potion.

[@Tsumami__]

Nima Sarlak Lol you do realize they’re a liar, right?

[@jonstfrancis]

The plant was probably used in the tanning process that the experiment above didn't include. This tanning through the use of chemicals in the plant would help preserve the skin.

[@nimasarlak]

I didn't know about tanning! that is a possible theory though! The person whom I talked with strongly believed that the chemical ingredients of those plants (known only to the priests) played a major role in shrinking process! He added while he was in Germany he had a chance to share stories of his journey to public in the form of presentation, he claimed after that, few scientists stood forward and showed interest in chemical ingredients of those plants he said: "the scientists were hopeful to make anti-wrinkle cream from the plants"

[@jonstfrancis]

I think the story about scientists and anti-wrinkle cream is nonsense. However, rituals, secret ingredients and beliefs of the practitioners would be interesting to know about.

[@nimasarlak]

Indeed, I just told what I heard :-) although I don't believe it 100% yet I believe there might be a little truth to the story!

[@africanelectron751]

Cool will try it this afternoon!

[@ashleewilliams2975]

imagine waking up to the smell of bacon in the morning and you see this

[@zen-nc3uv]

Wow. I'm glad I ended up here. Now I have learnt something new.

[@kyakun5571]

This is the point where i ask myself how and why i am here 11pm watching this

[@vadavada7605]

I'm taking notes! I'd LOVE to have my head shrunk when I die! Then I can literally be a family heirloom!

[@mandy2500]

This makes me think of Beetlejuice haha

[@misskxl9719]

Wow, thanks for the tutorial I’ve always wanted to shrink heads🙏

[@claytonlongworth1145]

I'm sad to say, I didn't know the skull was removed. I'm no longer fascinated by this. Thank you for the no Bs assessment!

[@joedkat]

2:37 Jokes on you, my head is already full of that

[@LivingSoftly]

Hey @Smithsonian, please make a playlist for this. My search history is getting weird searching for the next video.

[@toamaori]

after recreating the shrunken head, the warriors spirit escapes and wreaks havoc in a hollywood blockbuster

[@JinjoVitis]

Why did I click on this? Why do I need to know this?

[@d.t.w1390]

Cause that head might be yours

[@jazminecartwright5664]

Once I met this guy who was really obsessed with me and quite crazy, I should have known what to expect, the first day I met him, he pulled out a shrunken head that he was going to gift his brother...

[@franssantos9417]

Are you going to eat that?

[@pavelmyronyuk2229]

This video inspired me ...

[@meow9426]

Directions unclear, burned the soup

[@pamelasharkey7653]

Did not like shrunken head business but i laughed my head off reading all the comments! Thnx people

[@chrisbarnett6362]

So basically he's an aspiring chef with a taste for decorative bacon. Can't wait for his George Shaman Grill to hit the shelves...

[@MsSunShine1]

3 stitches in the mouth. Ancient knowledge.

[@zatrat5696]

Why am I watching this omg

[@Cree8Ball]

I like how most of the video is out of focus to make it a bit more avitisor friendly

[@planet_solux6348]

And they did this to human heads....... I think I'm gonna barf

[@tarrynpollard5749]

The DirtyDorito they do

[@astroflight6571]

Traditionally it was the heads of enemy warriors, always men of course as women didn't fight but..... DNA analysis on some heads reveal them to be female. It has been discovered that they used to murder women to sell the heads. The sunken head 'trade' to European collectors became real.

[@rhyfelwrDuw]

The Nazis did it as well (apparently) and gave the shrunken heads to their wives.

[@rhyfelwrDuw]

Ewwww that sounds awful. Not heard of a movie like that!

[@streeda6501]

Thanks! Now i know what to do if i ever want a little trophy 🥰

[@Dreaded88]

Is there an Instruction Manual? *_:D_*

[@Dan-n-Duke-jr2ic]

Thank God you did this vid, all my heads turned out terrible! I did it with the skulls still inside,,duhh!

[@christinaatwell6338]

😂😂😂

[@lisabaltzer3163]

Dan S That was funny 🤓👍.

[@anthonyfox585]

lol I like you

[@amihan99]

Duh. Everyone knows you need to remove the skull first

[@okamiblackwolfcoronado3935]

Um that's disturbing in some ways more than others

[@briankehew579]

"How to make a dead pig's head smaller" probably wouldn't be a better title... I think you nailed it.

[@rickiestevens2655]

Holy shit i legit thought the last step was to shrink a human head lol

[@OhioStudiosOG]

When i visited new york i went in a awesome meuseum with these. pretty cool meuseum👍🏻

[@anthonyfox585]

I think they should have added some type of astringent into the boiling water it would probably help it shrink

[@HaydenDavidson6]

Shaman: seal the eyes and mouth so the spirit can't escape. Spirit: Yo, I'm already gone tho.. when you removed my face from my Skull.

[@rotoscopic8757]

I would love to do this to my enemies.

[@BladeFair]

"Let’s reverse the process." It reminded me of the Mummy movies, it’d be a nice plot for a sequel lol

[@RoyGoneMad]

It's a Pig Warrior!!! 🐷🐖🐽

[@cutecats532]

Kitty N 🗡🐷

[@sageemerald7685]

That would be one vuck of a halloween mask. Sending this to a local livestock farmer friend.

[@great-grandmakirk8828]

So it’s really just a shrunken skin not a whole head. I was wondering they could shrink the skull.

[@jaybeecee1949]

So where is the full length version of this? I’d like to see the final result of the restoration.

[@ccc-fd3ls]

this is sick

[@DragonDriver100]

I was in a play called "The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa".

[@J_PIK]

A ritual I’m glad is illegal in the US.

[@WeldonSirloin]

It would also be tops if you plebs could get rid of your monthly mass shooting rituals as well.

[@callistourseides]

What point are you trying to make?No one shrinks head anymore

[@23popod2]

but is legal shooting schools

[@cv3739]

Weldon Sirloin Listen snowflake, if you don't live here, you have no say in what we do. Screw your opinion and screw your country. Sounds like you're jealous of America's freedom.

[@SUGAR_XYLER]

Monthly mass shootings? You mean WEEKLY.

[@al00ni]

At first I thought this guy was the cat guy from my cat from hell lmao

[@nikkinixon8417]

I did not expect that accent

[@aestheticsillyaj2011]

So. I re-watched Ant-Man. Then i looked up quantum physics. Then quantum mechanics. Then if a person can be shrunk. I found something about shrunken heads, and now I’m here

[@richardhead8264]

Who else thought the thumbnail was *Steven Tyler?*

[@blackspec1855]

thanks this help me a lot👍

[@szabolcsszigligeti1565]

Psychologists know how to do this.

[@The-Urban-Goose]

Gotta love the narrators action voice!

[@samanthagil238]

I'm from Ecuador

[@martinobr7550]

Samantha Gil me 2

[@anyafolger8730]

me 3

[@kazkk2321]

It's sad how such a practice has died out

[@adryana9]

tl;dw: it's just the skin

[@goldietheswagbear8288]

thanks for the tutorial mate

[@joystickchannel8432]

Yay it new

[@jjju3]

damn, I always thought shrunken heads were like, claw or something, I never imagined they sunk _real_ heads

[@FarmerDrew]

Hey I'm a pig farmer and I have become quite interested in doing this myself, thanks Smithsonian!

[@thebossmongars9651]

So , how did it turn out ?

[@buizelmeme6288]

💀

[@israelrodriguez5261]

The shut the eyes and mouth to prevent things from escaping. Do the spirits not realize the massive whole where the neck should be, or the one where the skull was removed through?

[@BULLSHXTYT]

What's the use?

[@Dan-n-Duke-jr2ic]

thisaccountisfake so you can carry your enemy's soul with you to prevent them from getting reveng, or retaining their power also,,,just educated guesses

[@cheerubebayonettaholopaine2638]

Dan S 🤔

[@raymagliacano6144]

It ended just when it was getting good!

[@leah2308]

*/ZIKA/*

[@clairerothero724]

A fellow Witsie! I am so proud!

[@eva7424]

This is so messed up. What about the "no animals were harmed disclaimer?"

[@coolcroc]

Silver Sword it wasnt messed up. This is a pigs head and the rest of the pig is used for meat. They would not just kill a pig for the head, they obviously bought the head from somewhere like a butchers. They wouldn't put a disclaimer in there because the animal was harmed because it was KILLED, also it didn't show any animals alive anyway.

[@s.a.morris8625]

....BACON....!!!!.....

[@DanielAnderssson]

How about no? Stop with your "empathy" for animals. Its a sign of mental illness on your part.

[@frxnkie.mp3]

SPOT THE VEGAN

[@ubs16]

S.A. Morris I have a pet pig called bacon :) #govegan!

[@James-pn9ux]

Well thanks, I’m in prison now

[@jesvs666.]

Brutal can i use this for stage props for my metal band

[@grege5074]

"Hi honey, i'm home -- ooo i smell bacon, what are we having for dinner?" "definitely not bacon...sorry to get your hopes up"

[@CaseyCorbett]

I hope you freed the pigs soul after showing us this, since you literally just said you trapped it in there.

[@dazzawesome]

Interesting video

[@deenibeeniable]

Gee, thanks for showing us the finished product.

[@adventureswithcarl123]

Very interesting

[@robertbradford3461]

:28 the anthropologist sitting there, look at his face. Head looks like a bigger version of a shrunken head, hang some string from his mouth and you have full sized version

[@StraberrYKiler6789]

Thanks this helped allot!