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.” 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. All crania exhibited lesions associated with bodily stress. In this report, we present the only known evidence of using juvenile crania as mortuary headgear, either in South America or globally.

中文翻译：

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厄瓜多尔萨兰戈独特的婴儿殡仪馆，公元前 100 年

人头是许多南美文化的有力象征。孤立的头颅通常被包括在太平间的环境中，代表被俘虏的敌人、受人尊敬的人和象征性的“种子”。在厄瓜多尔中部海岸的一个仪式建筑群萨兰戈，挖掘发现了两个可追溯到公元前 100 年左右的墓葬。在已确定的 11 座墓葬中，有两名婴儿被埋葬着由其他少年颅骨穹窿制成的“头盔”。额外的颅骨被放置在主要墓葬的头部周围，可能是在埋葬时。所有颅骨都表现出与身体压力相关的病变。在本报告中，我们提供了在南美洲或全球使用青少年颅骨作为太平间头饰的唯一已知证据。