Terrifying legends from the Amazon tell of Indian headshrinkers who would shrink an enemy’s head to render the vengeful soul powerless. Now, NGC has exclusive U.S. access to 45-year-old archive footage captured by explorer Edmundo Bielawski, purportedly the only known footage that shows the process of an actual ― recently deceased ― human head being shrunk. Author and explorer Piers Gibbon heads deep into the Amazon jungle in an attempt to trace Bielawski’s 1960s journey, rediscover the exact location where this scene was filmed and reconnect with the tribe today. After a string of setbacks, Gibbon finally gets a striking clue that leads him on an arduous trek to the village of Tukupi, where he finds one aging warrior, the last of his generation, who could provide answers to the mystery once and for all.

Piers Gibbon journeys to the heart of the South American jungle to reveal the mysteries of the Amazon Head-shrinkers.

Watch the rare archival footage that demonstrates the process of shrinking a human head. The Shuar engaged in this practice to render their victims powerless to take revenge.

THE HEADSHRINKING PROCESS – Caution: Do not try this at home !!!

• First, the back of the head is opened and the skin is sliced free from the skull. Care is taken not to damage the facial features. While the skull and remaining flesh are discarded, the skin is boiled in water for half an hour (any longer and the hair may fall out).
• After being dried in the sun, the skin is turned inside out and any unwanted tissue is scraped off. The skin is formed into a sack shape and hot stones are used to burn off the fat inside.
• Hot sand is added to reach the fat in hard-to-get-to places, such as the nose and lips. The head-taker massages the skin to help the drying process and produce the head shape once again.
• The process is repeated and can take up to six days, until the head is a quarter of its original size.
• The warrior must now make sure there is no revenge attack from the dead man’s soul: Eyes are sewn shut, preventing the victim’s spirit from seeing out, and wooden pins are placed through the lips and lashed together with string. This stops the soul from asking for the death to be avenged.
• The warrior is now safe, while the soul within will remain in the abyss.

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