When we were in Colchagua valley, we stayed in a fancy Airbnb with Omi and granddad.
We went to a museum that was very big. There were fossils, mummies, human heads, and pots with pictures of people holding human heads.
The first thing we saw were fossils. There were smilodon and glyptodon fossils. There was a ground sloth fossil too. The ground sloth was 12 feet tall.
Then we saw pottery made by several groups of indigenous people with pictures on them. They were for drinking and storing food and other things.
If you don’t want to hear really creepy stuff, stop now. Next there were shrunken heads. They were super scary. They shrunk heads by taking out the skull and putting the heads in boiling water with herbs. It is dried with sand and hot rocks while in a mold. Then they rub charcoal ash on the skin to keep the avenging soul from getting out.
After that we saw mummies and skeletons. Did you know that there were mummies in South America before Egypt? The South American mummies look like bundles of grass, bones, and hide.
There is a culture in South America that shapes their heads. They would tie boards to the heads of royal babies.
There were often statues of a deity with an axe in one hand and a head in the other. Historians thought the beheadings were just a myth but then found headless skeletons (dun-dun-dunnn!) Did you know in the Andes some people have the skulls of their ancestors look over their farms to make sure they got a good harvest?
I really liked the museum and wanted to stay longer, But it was also scary sometimes.
2 Responses
Wow! Syd, I agree that there are some scary things in that museum. I have always been intrigued with ancient tribes that shrunk heads and had other strange practices. I knew of head shaping in Africa but wasn’t aware that South American tribes practiced it, and mummification. If I were living back then I am not sure if that sloth or the head hunters would have been more of a threat. Maybe you can tell me more when we next meet.
I would like to go to that museum! The pictures you included are just enough to pique my interest! The process of making a shrunken head must have been very important to the ancient people who did that. It would be fun to know if it was a result of vanquishing enemies, remembering family members, or something else entirely.It is always a good day when there is a blog entry by you!