Archaeologists believe they have found one of the oldest burial sites in the world at Tinshemet Cave in central Israel. The cave contains well-preserved remains of early humans, dating back around 100,000 years, that were carefully arranged in pits. This discovery offers insights into the origins of human burial practices and suggests that such rituals became more widespread during this period.
"This is an amazing revolutionary innovation for our species. It's actually the first time we are starting to use this behavior," said Yossi Zaidner, one of the directors of the Tinshemet excavation and a professor of archaeology at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, according to The Independent. The remains were discovered in pits and arranged in a fetal position, known as a burial position, underscoring the intentional nature of the burials.
Since 2016, archaeologists working at Tinshemet Cave have uncovered the remains of five early humans that date back to around 110,000 to 100,000 years ago, including two full skeletons and three isolated skulls with other bones and teeth. The cave, a dark crevice filled with screeching fruit bats, is located in central Israel's rolling hills and holds significance for the study of human evolution and behavior during the Paleolithic time.
"Inside and around Tinshemet Cave is an unassuming stone mound that is one of the three or four most important sites for study of human evolution and behavior during the Paleolithic time," said Zaidner. The Paleolithic era, also known as the Stone Age due to the appearance of stone tools, lasted from as early as 3.3 million years ago until around 10,000 years ago. Tinshemet Cave dates from the Middle Paleolithic era, approximately between 250,000 and 30,000 years ago.
Objects found alongside the remains at Tinshemet Cave may have been used during ceremonies to honor the dead and could shed light on how ancient ancestors thought about spirituality and the afterlife. Many skeletons were found with objects such as basalt pebbles, animal remains, or fragments of ochre, a reddish pigment made from iron-rich rocks. Some of these objects were sourced from hundreds of kilometers away and had no known practical use for daily life, suggesting they were part of rituals meant to honor the dead.
"Here we see a really complex set of behaviors, not related to just food and surviving," Zaidner said. These findings contribute to a growing understanding of the origins of human burial practices and symbolize a shift in how early humans treated their dead.
The skeletons and objects at Tinshemet Cave were preserved exceptionally well. The local climate, along with the ashes from frequent bonfires – likely for rituals – mixed with rainfall and Israel's acidic limestone, created optimal conditions for preservation. One skeleton was in such good condition that archaeologists could observe how the fingers were interwoven and the hands clasped beneath the head.
"This represents a shift in how early humans treated their dead," said Christian Tryon, a professor at the University of Connecticut and a research associate at the Human Origins Program at the Smithsonian Institution. "The findings of Tinshemet reinforce previous discoveries from two similar burial sites dating from the same period in northern Israel: the Skhul cave and the Qafzeh cave."
Experts have been studying the two full skeletons from Tinshemet Cave for years, but it is still unclear if they were Neanderthals, Homo sapiens, a hybrid population, or another group altogether. Archaeologists have identified other subgroups of early humans in the area and believe the groups interacted and may have interbred.
"The mixing of subgroups created opportunities for different groups of primitive humans to exchange knowledge or express their identity," Zaidner stated. "It's at this time that archaeologists see for the first time examples of primitive jewelry or body painting, which could be ways in which primitive humans began to openly belong to a certain group, drawing boundaries between 'us' and 'them.'"
Israel Hershkovitz, a physical anthropologist at Tel Aviv University and co-director of the Tinshemet site, emphasized the importance of the concept of cemeteries in prehistoric life. "It's a kind of territory," he said. "It's a kind of claim you make to the neighbors, saying 'this is my territory, this part of the land belongs to my father and my forefather' and so on and so on."
Using hand chisels and delicate, pen-sized pneumatic drills that resemble dental tools, archaeologists anticipate many more years of excavation at the Tinshemet site. Fieldwork, which started in 2016, is usually conducted during the summer months. This year, a dozen archaeology undergraduate and graduate students fanned out across the site, painstakingly documenting and removing each fragment of tool, object, or bone.
At the entrance to Tinshemet Cave, the skull of one of the early humans is slowly emerging from the rock sediment; it will take years before it is fully excavated. The significance of Tinshemet Cave to archaeologists cannot be overstated, as it offers a rare glimpse into the behaviors and rituals of early humans.
Some of the main findings from the Tinshemet researchers were published in March in the journal Nature Human Behavior. The discoveries at Tinshemet build on previous findings in northern Israel and help archaeologists conclude that burial practices began to become widespread during this period.
In ancient times, Israel was a bridge between Neanderthals from Europe and Homo sapiens from Africa. Archaeologists have identified other subgroups of early humans in the area and believe the groups interacted and may have interbred. These interactions could have facilitated the exchange of knowledge and cultural practices.
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