RT Journal Article
T1 Earliest known human burial in Africa
A1 Martinón Torres, María
A1 d’Errico, Francesco
A1 Santos, Elena
A1 Álvaro Gallo, Ana
A1 Amano, Noel
A1 Archer, William
A1 Armitage, Simon J.
A1 Arsuaga, Juan Luis
A1 Bermúdez de Castro, José María
A1 Blinkhorn, James
A1 Crowther, Alison
A1 Douka, Katerina
A1 Dubernet, Stéphan
A1 Faulkner, Patrick
A1 Fernández Colón, Pilar
A1 Kourampas, Nikos
A1 González García, Jorge
A1 Larreina, David
A1 Le Bourdonnec, François-Xavier
A1 MacLeod, George
A1 Martín-Francés, Laura
A1 Massilani, , Diyendo
A1 Mercader, Julio
A1 Miller, Jennifer M.
A1 Ndiema, Emmanuel
A1 Notario, Belén
A1 Pitarch Martí, Africa
A1 Prendergast, Mary E.
A1 Queffelec, Alain
A1 Rigaud, Solange
A1 Roberts, Patrick
A1 Shoaee, Mohammad Javad
A1 Shipton, Ceri
A1 Simpson, Ian
A1 Boivin, Nicole
A1 Petraglia, Michael D.
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.
PB Nature Publishing Group
SN 0028-0836
YR 2021
FD 2021-05-05
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/6794
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/6794
LA eng
NO Unión Europea. FP7
NO Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN)/FEDER
NO Research Council of Norway
NO Generalitat de Catalunya
NO Max Planck Society
NO Leakey Foundation
NO Ramón Areces/Atapuerca Foundation
NO Agence Nationale de la Recherche
NO University of Bordeaux
DS Docta Complutense
RD 8 may 2024