[News]The remains of the oldest funeral cremation in the Middle East discovered

[SougarLord]

The cremation of corpses, a funeral rite that began to spread throughout Europe around 4,000 years ago, is a much older practice in the Middle East where, according to a study published today, Wednesday, in the journal PLOS ONE, the dead were already cremated ago 9000 years.

 

The research, led by Fanny Bocquentin, from the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), has been carried out at the Neolithic site of Beisamoun, in northern Israel, where they have discovered an ancient cremation pit containing the remains of a corpse that appears to have been intentionally cremated as part of a funeral practice.

The dating of the remains indicates that the body was cremated between 7013 and 6700 BC, making them the oldest known example of cremation in the Near East.

 

                            

 

The remains, which comprise the majority of a young adult skeleton, were cremated at over 500 ° C shortly after death, and lie inside a pit that appears to have been constructed with an open top and highly insulating walls.

«The cremation 'in situ' is observed within a pyramidal fossa of a young individual who previously survived a wound by a flint projectile. In addition, the inventory of bones and their relative position shows that it is the deliberate deposit of an articulated corpse and not dislocated bones, ”says Bocquentin.

 

Microscopic plant remains that served as fuel for the fire were also found inside the pit, which for scientists is the proof that confirms that it is the remains of an intentional cremation and not a burning of stubble or a accidental fire.

This early cremation occurred in an important transitional period in funeral practices in this region of the world in which old traditions, such as the removal of the skull of the dead and burial within the settlement, began to disappear and new ones emerged, like the cremation of corpses.

 

For researchers, this change in funeral customs could also mean a transition in the rituals surrounding death and the meaning of the deceased in society.

 

A closer look at other possible cremation sites in the region will help shed light on this important cultural shift.