Chonchón

Origin and tradition

Chilean and Mapuche-linked folklore describes witches whose heads detach and fly through the night using enormous ears as wings.

Illustration in this atlas

A flying human head with hair and enormous ears spread like wings. The plate preserves a human face rather than substituting a skull or adding a bat's body.

References and further reading

1. en.wikipedia.org — Chonchon
2. memoriachilena.gob.cl — w3-article-95270.html
3. memoriachilena.gob.cl — MC0037757.pdf

These references offer further reading. Accounts and depictions vary; the atlas illustration is interpretive artwork, rather than historical or scientific evidence.