Archaeologists dig up infants who were buried 2,000 years ago wearing ‘helmets’ made from the skulls of other dead CHILDREN to protect them in the afterlife
- Two infants were among the remains of 11 people unearthed in South America
- Infants were found wearing helmets made of skulls from other children
- Experts suggest the children may have been sacrificed to appease a volcano
- Or the children had died due to lack of food, as the volcano hurt food production
Archaeologists unearthed 11 burials in South America, two of which were infants with ‘helmets’ made from the skulls of other children.
Researchers theorize that the helmets may have been used to protect the babies from the ‘pre-social and wild souls’ as they made their way to the afterlife.
The team has also suggested that they may have been part of a ritual response to a volcano eruption that occurred no too long before they were buried.
The discovery was made at a burial site called Salango, on the coast of central Ecuador, Livescience reported.
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Archaeologists unearthed 11 burials in South America, two of which were infants with ‘helmets’ made from the skulls of other children
‘The human head was a potent symbol for many South American cultures. Isolated heads were often included in mortuary contexts, representing captured enemies, revered persons, and symbolic ‘seeds’, reads the published study.
‘At Salango, a ritual complex on the central coast of Ecuador, excavations revealed two burial mounds dated to approximately 100 BC.’
‘Among the 11 identified burials, two infants were interred with ‘helmets’ made from the cranial vaults of other juveniles.
‘The additional crania were placed around the heads of the primary burials, likely at the time of burial.’
Researchers theorize that the helmets may have been used to protect the babies from the ‘pre-social and wild souls’ as they made their way to the afterlife
‘All crania exhibited lesions associated with bodily stress.’
Although the researchers have theories of what may have killed the infants, the exact reason is still unknown.
However, the team does suspect it has to do with a volcano eruption that occurred not too long before the infants were buried.
They could have died from a lack of food, as the ash from the eruption may have affected food production in the area and the children may have starved.
Another suggestion is that the children were part of a ‘ritual response to environmental consequences of the eruption,’ the archaeologists wrote, which the team believes may have been the cause of death.
Lesions were found on the remains of both of the infants (a and d), suggesting the baby suffered some kind of bodily stress. Experts suggest they may have been sacrificed or suffered from malnutrition
One of the infants died at 18 months old, which was buried wearing a helmet of what the team believes came from the skull of a four to 12-year old child.
The second infant was about six to nine months old at death and was found with a skull helmet made from another who had died between ages two and 12 years old.
The team of researchers hope that in-progress DNA and isotope analyzes will confirm if the infants and those children who became the ‘skull helmets’ were related, but they say in their paper that various possibilities for the origin of the skulls exist, but that they think the burials are evidence of ancient traditions related to ideas about ‘rebirth’.