Earlier this year, archaeologists were perplexed when they unearthed the world’s earliest intentional cremation of an adult human. The discovery in Malawi raised questions about early funeral rituals. At the base of a granite hill that is several hundred feet is the Hora 1 archaeological site, which has been known for decades.
This is where
scientists unearthed prehistoric ash about the size of a queen bed that
contained remains of a woman just under 5 feet tall. This find had been
sheltered from rain and such for thousands of years, which allowed for good
preservation of bones.
The ash had been
cemented together, not by rain, but by soil moisture. It was hard to excavate,
but helped protect the bones.
Before now, the oldest
known deliberate cremations were dated to roughly 3,300 years ago. This
cremation at Hora 1 was a meticulously planned event performed 9,500 years ago
by hunter-gatherers.
From this time period,
there haven’t been very many burned bodies discovered. And why this person? How
was she significant? Nobody knows yet.
Studying prehistoric
funeral rituals offers insights into how people treated each other in life.
The small adult
female’s remains bear marks of manipulation, so her body was cremated prior to
decomposition. This indicates that these ancient hunter-gatherers undertook
elaborate mortuary practices. These complex mortuary and ritual activities
predate food production activities, which challenge assumptions about community
cooperation and memory-making in such societies.
Although burned human
remains have been found dating to about 40,000 years ago in Australia.
Intentionally built pyres of fuel don’t appear in archaeological records until
10,000 years ago.
Cremation is more
common among food-producing societies. The practice is very rare among
hunter-gatherers, both ancient and modern. Pyres require a huge amount of
labor, time, and fuel.
The pyre at Hora 1
would have required gathering at least 30 kg of deadwood and grass, a
significant commitment. The blaze likely reached temperatures greater than
500C.
The finding sparks a
re-think about hunter-gatherer communities. It also questions the change in
mortuary practices in Malawi 9,500 years ago. These people had typically buried
the dead.
Researchers found that
the society revisited the location and built more large fires, indicating they
had a longer tradition based on their shared memory of the woman’s cremation.
That other deaths at the site were buried and not cremated indicate that this
death was special.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/discovery-of-africa-s-oldest-cremation-leaves-archaeologists-perplexed/ar-AA1Traqn?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=6957f977841f40e581fd8b7b5529ed63&ei=119
