Authentication and repatriation of a ceremonial shrunken head from the US to Ecuador

A ceremonial tsantsa—or shrunken head—was authenticated and repatriated to Ecuador in 2019, after it had been discovered amongst stored exhibits at Mercer University. The history of the artefact and the process of its authentication—which involved CT scans and assessment of 33 criteria such skin and hair features—are described in a study published in Heritage Science.