Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1893/33008
Appears in Collections:Biological and Environmental Sciences Journal Articles
Peer Review Status: Refereed
Title: Earliest known human burial in Africa
Author(s): Martinón-Torres, María
d’Errico, Francesco
Santos, Elena
Álvaro Gallo, Ana
Amano, Noel
Archer, William
Armitage, Simon J
Arsuaga, Juan Luis
Bermúdez de Castro, José María
Blinkhorn, James
Crowther, Alison
Douka, Katerina
Dubernet, Stéphan
Faulkner, Patrick
MacLeod, George
Contact Email: g.w.macleod@stir.ac.uk
Issue Date: 2021
Date Deposited: 28-Jul-2021
Citation: Martinón-Torres M, d’Errico F, Santos E, Álvaro Gallo A, Amano N, Archer W, Armitage SJ, Arsuaga JL, Bermúdez de Castro JM, Blinkhorn J, Crowther A, Douka K, Dubernet S, Faulkner P & MacLeod G (2021) Earliest known human burial in Africa. Nature, 593, pp. 95-100. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03457-8
Abstract: The origin and evolution of hominin mortuary practices are topics of intense interest and debate1,2,3. Human burials dated to the Middle Stone Age (MSA) are exceedingly rare in Africa and unknown in East Africa1,2,3,4,5,6. 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 Kenya7,8. 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.
DOI Link: 10.1038/s41586-021-03457-8
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Notes: Additional co-authors: Pilar Fernández-Colón, Nikos Kourampas, Jorge González García, David Larreina, François-Xavier Le Bourdonnec, Laura Martín-Francés, Diyendo Massilani, Julio Mercader, Jennifer M. Miller, Emmanuel Ndiema, Belén Notario, Africa Pitarch Martí, Mary E. Prendergast, Alain Queffelec, Solange Rigaud, Patrick Roberts, Mohammad Javad Shoaee, Ceri Shipton, Ian Simpson, Nicole Boivin & Michael D. Petragli

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