Here's a short, fascinating column about a 10,000 year old grave discovered in an Italian cave. And here are two even more fascinating links from within this article. oldest burial of a newborn girl discovered so far in Europe. And "the remains of a two- to three-year-old child buried with extraordinary care by a community of early Homo sapiens some 78,000 years ago."
The Italian infant story -
The little bundle was discovered in a cave in Liguria (northwestern Italy) and is the oldest burial of a newborn girl discovered so far in Europe.
And that’s not all. Her burial has left scholars amazed; the child was, in fact, wrapped in a shroud including seashell jewelry. More precisely, her bones (only a few survived the millennia) were found surrounded by more than 60 beads made of pierced seashells; four pendants, also made from pierced fragments of bivalves; and an eagle-owl talon.
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This discovery allows us to investigate an exceptional funerary rite from the early Mesolithic phase, an era of which few burials are known, and testifies to how all members of the community, even newborns, were recognized as full persons and apparently enjoyed egalitarian treatment.
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The chronicle of this exceptional discovery makes us take a step beyond archaeology. Our ancestors left us a thoughtful message: even the smallest and most fragile life should be cared for attentively. The great value of this small person is testified by the devotion and care given to her, even in her burial.
This happened 10,000 years ago, during “a period that probably marked great social changes in human populations, linked to the adaptations due to the end of the last ice age,” according to Il Secolo XIX.
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