A strange archaeological find can help uncover the secrets of the rites of the past

Archaeologists have discovered amazing and intimidatingfind. On the coast of Central Ecuador, a burial place was found for two babies who were buried about 2,100 years ago in peculiar “helmets” made from skulls of other children. Excavations of the burials were carried out from 2014 to 2016, but archaeologists have published the details of the discovered finds only now.

Babies were buried in helmets that were made from skulls of other children

An archaeological find in the form of two babies inThe “helmets” were found along with nine other graves in Salango, which is located on the coast of Central Ecuador. According to the portal livescience.com, scientists have not yet figured out the cause of the death of infants and children, but they have several assumptions about the possible cause of their death. A team of specialists noted that this is the only known case when children's skulls were used to bury babies.

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A detailed study of the discovered find allowedfind out that helmets are tightly covering the heads of babies. Experts say that, most likely, the skulls of older children had skin and flesh at the moment when they created helmets, because otherwise helmets without flesh could not stick together. Also, the face of one baby looked through the arch of the skull and even partially went beyond the space that holds the brain, which in turn confirms the assumptions of archaeologists.

Damages were found on the remains of infants, which indicate that the child suffered pathological physical changes

On this interesting findings of archaeologists do notare over. They also found that there was a phalanx of the hand between the baby’s head and the helmet, but at the moment it was not possible to identify the owner of this bone, but work on its study is still ongoing.

Researchers still don’t know the reason forwhich skulls from children's bones were placed on the heads of infants. According to some assumptions, this could be caused by a certain rite that would provide protection in the afterlife of the unprotected souls of newborns. Near the remains of infants, the archaeological team discovered figurines depicting their ancestors, which were made of stone. This finding confirms the theory of the rite performed on infants and an attempt to “protect” the soul of a child.

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Scientists suggest that a possible causethe death of infants could be their malnutrition, which caused some deformation in the structure of their bodies. As you know, shortly before the burial of children, a volcano erupted, which covered some parts of fertile land with ash, which caused a decrease in food supplies.