A 100,000-year-old burial site in Israel is changing what we know about early humans

Archaeologists believe they have found one of the oldest burial sites in the world at a cave in Israel, where the well-preserved remains of early humans dating back some 100,000 years were carefully arranged in pits.

- By MELANIE LIDMAN

The findings at Tinshemet Cave in central Israel, published in an academic journal earlier this year, build on previous discoveries in northern Israel and add to a growing understanding of the origins of human burial.

Of particular interest to archaeologists are objects found beside the remains that may have been used during ceremonies to honor the dead and could shed light on how our ancient ancestors thought about spirituality and the afterlife.

“This is an amazing revolutionary innovation for our species," said Yossi Zaidner, one of the directors of the Tinshemet excavation and a professor of archaeology at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. "It’s actually the first time we are starting to use this behavior.”

Archaeologists working at Tinshemet since 2016 have discovered the remains of five early humans that date to around 110,000 to 100,000 years ago, according to various technologies.

The skeletons were discovered in pits and carefully arranged in a fetal position, which is known as a burial position, said Zaidner. Many were found with objects, such as basalt pebbles, animal remains or fragments of ochre, a reddish pigment made from iron-rich rocks.

These objects, some sourced from hundreds of kilometers away, had no known practical use for daily life, so experts believe they were part of rituals meant to honor the dead.

A window into early human burials