In the grave of a woman, researchers found a bison skull, partridge wings, and the paws of a marten.
In 2019, Turkish researchers uncovered the burial site of a woman approximately 12,000 years old in the settlement of Çemka Höyük in southeastern Turkey.
The woman, who was between 25 and 30 years old at the time of her death, was interred beneath the floor of a clay structure. This practice of burying the deceased within living spaces was common during that period. However, a noteworthy aspect of this burial was the presence of numerous animals and a large limestone block covering the body.
The arrangement of the animals in the grave proved to be particularly intriguing. Above the woman’s body was a bison skull, with its jawbone separated and placed at her feet. In addition, archaeologists discovered partridge wings, marten paws, and scattered bones belonging to sheep or goats.
The researchers suggest that this unusual combination of animals in the burial might indicate the woman held a special status in society. She may have been a shaman — an individual with a unique connection to spirits, especially malevolent ones. In many cultures, shamans were regarded as intermediaries between the realms of humans and animals, capable of communicating with the spirits residing in those animals.
The find at Çemka Höyük is unprecedented for early Neolithic settlements in Upper Mesopotamia. It stands as the only known example of a burial that illustrates such a close relationship between a human and various animals. This discovery allows archaeologists to reinterpret the spiritual practices and social structures of Neolithic communities in the region.
The study was published in the journal L'Anthropologie.
Source: Interestingengineering
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