An archeology expert said they appear to be from the Jivaro tribe of South America,
A smuggling ring bust in Turkey turned up some head-scratching artifacts. Among the recovered items: four real shrunken human heads.
An archeology expert said they appear to be from the Jivaro tribe of South America, whose warriors developed a technique of shrinking a human head to the size of an orange to trap the soul in the body.
The practice included sewing the mouth closed so the soul wouldn’t have an exit.
The heads found still had the skin and hair intact, and a lab will do DNA analysis to get more information.
The anti-smuggling operation seized 400 historical artifacts in total.
Aside from the heads, three mummies were also recovered along with paintings, Byzantine coins, Ottoman manuscripts, and bone hairpins, among other items. Some of which reportedly dated back to the prehistoric period.
Some unusual connections to history that researchers are looking forward to learning from.
