Infants wearing ‘helmets’ made from skulls of other children unearthed in Ecuador

Two infants were buried more than 2,000 years ago wearing strange “helmets” made from the skulls of other children, researchers found.

The researchers found a small shell and a finger bone sandwiched between
the two layered skulls [Credit: Sara Juengst/UNC Charlotte]

Scientists, led by study co-author Sara Juengst at the University of North Carolina’s department of anthropology, discovered the remains at a site called Salango, in Ecuador and published their findings recently in the journal Latin American Antiquity.

The researchers believe this is the only known instance of children’s skulls being used as helmets for the burial of infants and they don’t know what killed the infants and children.

Archaeologists unearthed 11 burials in South America, two of which
were infants with 'helmets' made from the skulls of other children
[Credit: Sara Juengst/UNC Charlotte]

One infant’s face “looked through and out of the cranial vault” — the space that holds the brain — Sara Juengst noted.

The sciencists report that a “hand phalanx,” which is a type of hand bone, was found between the infant’s head and the helmet. Researchers reportedly don’t know whose hand was involved.

Lesions were found on the remains of both of the infants (a and d), suggesting they had suffered some
kind of bodily stress. Experts suggest they may have been sacrificed or suffered from malnutrition
[Credit: Sara Juengst/UNC Charlotte]

The archaeologists also noted that it’s probable that the children’s skulls had flesh on them when they were turned into helmets, because the helmets likely would not have held together without flesh.

Juengst was joined by a colleague at UNC, along with scientists from Yale University and Universidad Tecnica de Manabi, in reporting on these findings.

Author: Christopher Carbone | Source: Fox News [November 20, 2019]