| This project analyzed two shrunken heads curated by the Idaho Museum of Natural History to determine 1) if they are human and 2) if they are of commercial or ceremonial origin. The purpose is to assess the possibility of repatriation and examine curation issues regardingdark tourism (visiting places associated with death and tragedy) artifacts inmuseums. Both heads were analyzed using metric, morphological, microscopic, and chemical analyses ofskin, hair, and fibersamples associated with the specimens. A wide range of analytical tools were used, including solution based inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopyand energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy(SEM/EDS).Results of the analysesultimatelyrevealed thatthe specimens areprobablehuman,commercial shrunken heads. Thishas implications for their future curation and highlights the investigative role of anthropology for addressing ethical consumerism and darktourism collections.Keywords: shrunken heads, chemical analysis, morphological analysis, dark tourism, tsantsas,museum collections. |