TY - JOUR
T1 - Earliest known human burial in Africa
AU - Martinón-Torres, MarÃa
AU - d’Errico, Francesco
AU - Santos, Elena
AU - Gallo, Ana Ãlvaro
AU - Amano, Noel
AU - Archer, Will
AU - Armitage, Simon J
AU - Arsuaga, Juan Luis
AU - de Castro, José MarÃa Bermúdez
AU - Blinkhorn, James
AU - Shipton, Ceri
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - The origin and evolution of hominin mortuary practices are topics of intense interest and debate . Human burials dated to the Middle Stone Age (MSA) are exceedingly rare in Africa and unknown in East Africa . Here we describe the partial skeleton of a roughly 2.5- to 3.0-year-old child dating to 78.3 ± 4.1 thousand years ago, which was recovered in the MSA layers of Panga ya Saidi (PYS), a cave site in the tropical upland coast of Kenya . Recent excavations have revealed a pit feature containing a child in a flexed position. Geochemical, granulometric and micromorphological analyses of the burial pit content and encasing archaeological layers indicate that the pit was deliberately excavated. Taphonomical evidence, such as the strict articulation or good anatomical association of the skeletal elements and histological evidence of putrefaction, support the in-place decomposition of the fresh body. The presence of little or no displacement of the unstable joints during decomposition points to an interment in a filled space (grave earth), making the PYS finding the oldest known human burial in Africa. The morphological assessment of the partial skeleton is consistent with its assignment to Homo sapiens, although the preservation of some primitive features in the dentition supports increasing evidence for non-gradual assembly of modern traits during the emergence of our species. The PYS burial sheds light on how MSA populations interacted with the dead.
AB - The origin and evolution of hominin mortuary practices are topics of intense interest and debate . Human burials dated to the Middle Stone Age (MSA) are exceedingly rare in Africa and unknown in East Africa . Here we describe the partial skeleton of a roughly 2.5- to 3.0-year-old child dating to 78.3 ± 4.1 thousand years ago, which was recovered in the MSA layers of Panga ya Saidi (PYS), a cave site in the tropical upland coast of Kenya . Recent excavations have revealed a pit feature containing a child in a flexed position. Geochemical, granulometric and micromorphological analyses of the burial pit content and encasing archaeological layers indicate that the pit was deliberately excavated. Taphonomical evidence, such as the strict articulation or good anatomical association of the skeletal elements and histological evidence of putrefaction, support the in-place decomposition of the fresh body. The presence of little or no displacement of the unstable joints during decomposition points to an interment in a filled space (grave earth), making the PYS finding the oldest known human burial in Africa. The morphological assessment of the partial skeleton is consistent with its assignment to Homo sapiens, although the preservation of some primitive features in the dentition supports increasing evidence for non-gradual assembly of modern traits during the emergence of our species. The PYS burial sheds light on how MSA populations interacted with the dead.
U2 - 10.1038/s41586-021-03457-8
DO - 10.1038/s41586-021-03457-8
M3 - Article
SN - 0028-0836
VL - 593
SP - 95
EP - 100
JO - Nature
JF - Nature
ER -