The head or tsantsa was found in the collections of Mercer University
It was acquired by a former faculty member in Amazonian Ecuador back in 1942
Before it could be repatriated, the Ecuador government needed it authenticated
Demand for tsantsas in the 19th century saw the production of many forgeries
Experts from Mercer compared the head s features to known genuine articles
They looked, for example, at the tsantsa s size, structure, hairs and hairstyle