A study published in L’Anthropologie by Ella Been of Ono Academic College and Dr. Omry Barzilai of the University of Haifa sheds new light on the burial practices of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals in the Levant region during the Middle Paleolithic.
The research, which examined a total of 17 Neanderthal and 15 Homo sapiens graves from different archaeological sites, highlighted both similarities and differences in how these two species treated their dead, including differences in where burial, body posture and specific grave goods.
The Middle Paleolithic of Western Asia, especially the Levant, is of particular interest for the study of human evolution due to the coexistence of two hominin species during this period. While Homo sapiens arrived in the region 170,000-90,000 years ago and returned to the region 55,000 years ago from Africa, Neanderthals came to the Levant from Europe around 120,000-55,000 years ago year old.
Around this time, both species suddenly began burying their dead, something neither of them had done before. This suggests that burials were first innovated in the Levant before spreading or being autonomously innovated elsewhere.
The two species are easily distinguished based on their biology and morphology, with almost every bone in the body being unique to each species. However, their material culture, mobility and settlement patterns are almost indistinguishable. Despite this, it has been hypothesized that the two species may have had different burial practices.
It was a Neanderthal burial that inspired the current study, says Professor Been. “A few years ago, my colleague, Dr. Omry Barzilai, and I published an article on the Neanderthals of Ein Qashish (EQ3). Initially, we weren’t sure if EQ3, which was found in an open-air site, was a burial.”
17 Neanderthal graves and 15 Homo sapiens graves
“This uncertainty has piqued our interest in Neanderthal burial practices, particularly in the Levant. Our current research has led us to the conclusion that EQ3 was indeed a deliberate burial. Additionally, we believe that examining burial practices could provide insight into the similarities and differences between H. sapiens and Neanderthals.”
The study began by examining a number of sites where skeletal remains of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals were recovered. These included five Neanderthal sites: Teshik Tash, Shanidar, Dederiyeh, Amud, Tabun and Kebara caves and two Homo sapiens sites: Skhul Cave and Qafzeh Cave.
Based on the results of approximately 37 confirmed burials, it was found that both Homo sapiens and Neanderthals buried their dead regardless of gender or age. However, burials of Neanderthal children were more frequent than those of Homo sapiens children. Similarly, both species sometimes included grave goods in the form of animal remains, including goat horns, deer antlers, mandibles and jaws.
Despite these differences, the researchers also noted differences, indicating that not all aspects of H. sapiens and Neanderthal material culture were similar in the Levant, as previously assumed.
Furthermore, Homo sapiens burials were very uniform, usually placed in a flexed (fetal) posture.
Burials of Neanderthal children were more common
This contrasts with Neanderthal burials, which were more varied and included individuals buried in flexed, extended (straight), and semi-flexed positions while lying on their left, back, or right side.
In addition, Neanderthals were more likely to include stones in their burials, including placing a corpse between two large stones as a form of positional marking, or placing modified pieces of limestone under the heads of the dead as a kind of headrest.
Interestingly, the researchers also noticed an explosion of burials during this period. Not only did the burials appear suddenly, but they occurred at a very high rate in an equally condensed region.
An increase in population density may partly explain this sudden burst of burials. Due to the increased humidity and thus a greater number of species of flora and fauna in the Saharo-Arabian desert during this period, Homo sapiens was attracted to the region from East Africa.
At the same time, the melting of the glaciers in the Taurus Mountains and the Balkans opened routes to the south, allowing Neanderthals to penetrate the Levant. There, the two populations met, probably increasing the population density of the area and thus demographic pressure and the presence of burials, he writes Phys.org.
This trend of increasing burials continued in the region until it stopped abruptly about 50,000 years ago
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Source: www.descopera.ro
