Intentional burial with grave goods
Enterramiento intencional con ofrendas
- Date
- c. 100 ka · confidence high
- Place
- Qafzeh Cave, Nazareth, Israel (and Skhul, Mount Carmel)
- Credited to
- Homo sapiens
- Field
- Communication
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A grave containing an adolescent and a child, with a deer antler and ochre placed inside. It is the oldest widely accepted evidence of ritual treatment of the dead.
Sima de los Huesos (Atapuerca, 430 ka) and Homo naledi (Rising Star, 240 ka) have been proposed as intentional depositions, with strong controversy. Neanderthals buried their dead at Shanidar and La Chapelle (c. 60–50 ka).
What it led to
- Awareness of death and thought about an afterlife: early religion
- Group cohesion through collective ceremonies
- A symbolic bond with a territory (the ancestors lie here)
- Preservation of complete skeletons for modern science
Built on
- Ochre pigment usec. 300 ka
- Personal ornaments (perforated shell beads)c. 142 ka
- Ochre pigment use
- Personal ornaments (perforated shell beads)
Made possible
- Rich grave goods and beaded sewn clothingc. 34 ka
- Rich grave goods and beaded sewn clothing