A 41,000-year-old Neanderthal skeleton is all set to unravel the long-held mystery of why Stone Age hominins deliberately buried the dead.
The origins of burial practices have an important influence on the manifestation of modern mental abilities and behaviors.
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The researchers from the Basque University of Spain, the French National Center for Scientific Research and the National Museum d’Histoire Naturelle have identified 47 bones belonging to a previously unidentified baby skeleton.
They confirmed that one of these bones was 41,000 years old and belonged to a neanderthal after examining the DNA of the mitochondria of the fragment.
Pictured: A researcher from the Musée d’Archéologie Nationale in France examines excavations at the site of La Ferrassie Neanderthal in southwestern France
The skeleton of dozens of neanderthals has been found in several parts of Europe over the past 150 years.
Spanish and French researchers used modern technology to revisit the remains and excavated the original archaeological site in La Ferrassie, southern France. They have completed the largest collections of Neandertal skeletons, interpreted as deliberate burials.
They concluded that the body of a two-year-old child had been deliberately placed in a pit dug in sediment.
The researchers said that traces from carnivores who tried to find a body found along with posts in which they were laid showed that the skeleton had been deliberately inserted. . The previously removed sterile sediment would be used to fill the pit and cover the baby.
The study said, “The origins of burial practices have an important impact on the manifestation of today’s mental abilities and behaviors.”
“These new findings provide important insights into the conversation about history of the Neanderthals’ disappearance, and the behavioral capacity, including cultural and symbolic sentiment, of these peoples.”