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Dec. 19, 2020
Less is known about Neanderthals than one might think from the popular press, especially their behavior. The question of ritual burial by non-sapiens is a divisive topic: evidence is scanty, possibly partly because if bury they did, it was in shallow graves. Now an international group of researchers has concluded that a Neanderthal toddler was deliberately buried about 41,000 years ago at the famed La Ferrassie rock shelter in Dordogne, France.
About 2 years old at death, the infant had been placed in a pit dug into an otherwise archaeo-paleontologically sterile sediment layer, Antoine Balzeau of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris and colleagues reported in Nature. The child had been part of one of the latest Neanderthal groups in the region.
Neanderthals used to bury their dead, shows new evidence
By IANS |
Published on
Sun, Dec 13 2020 14:42 IST |
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Neanderthals used to bury their dead, shows new evidence. Image Source: IANS News
London, Dec 13 : Solving a long-standing mystery, researchers have demonstrated that a Neanderthal child was buried, probably around 41,000 years ago, suggesting that burial of the dead was practiced even by our ancestors. These new results provide important insights for the discussion about the chronology of the disappearance of the Neanderthals, and the behavioural capacity, including cultural and symbolic expression, of these humans, the authors wrote in the study published in the journal Scientific Reports.
Saturday, 12 December, 2020 - 06:00
The replica of an elderly Neanderthal man stands in the Neanderthal Museum in Mettmann, Germany on March 13, 2013.Federico Gambarini / Picture-Alliance / DPA via AP file Photo Cairo- Hazem Badr
Was burial of the dead practiced by Neandertals or is it an innovation specific to our species? There are indications in favor of the first hypothesis but some scientists remain skeptical. However, a multi-disciplinary team led by researchers at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the Musée national d histoire naturelle (France) and the University of the Basque Country (Spain) found new evidence.
In a recent study published on December 9 in the journal Scientific Reports, the researchers have demonstrated that a Neandertal child was buried, probably around 41,000 years ago, at the Ferrassie site (Dordogne).
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