Bolivar baby!

I just got done with a tour of El Museo Etnográfico del Banco Central. They are featuring an exhibit on the native cultures of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Quite simply, it was amazing! From ceremonial masks to scale models of homes to conventional tools that were used by the many nations, we were given a definitive look at the lifestyle of these peoples.

To culminate the exhibit, the museum displays several shrunken heads from the Shuar people! These heads were used as status symbols of their warriors. Close your fist. Add twelve inches of hair tied back at the neck. Yes folks, literally that small! Skin blackened from age, mouths sewn shut (to stop the soul from escaping); they are ancient relics of a time long past in South America.

Unfortunately, photos were not allowed in the exhibit. It didn't stop one chav in my group from taking a flash photo of a shrunken head. C'mon folks, let's use a little discretion here! It's not as if they're getting a shipment of SHRUNKEN HUMAN HEADS every Tuesday and Friday!

After the tour Flor and I walked upstairs to explore the museum's library. We were taken upstairs to its archives, and were literally floored. The second largest library in Cuenca, it has over 52,000 editions. Not only that, but the curator showed us the first editions of laws in Gran Colombia, published in 1826! We were also shown the first issue of Cuenca's first newspaper, as well as the personal correspondence of Simón Bolivar! I held a large piece of history in my hands not an hour ago. Incredible!!!