World's oldest cremation pyre of a hunter-gatherer discovered

The 9,500-year-old remains of a woman in Malawi have set a new record, marking Africa's oldest evidence of intentional cremation, as well as the earliest known cremation pyre for an adult that is still 'in situ', or in its original position.

- MARGHERITA BASSI

The pyre is located at a hunter-gatherer burial ground at the foot of Mount Hora in Malawi, where the burials date to between 8,000 and 16,000 years ago. The pyre is the only known cremation at the site. The analysis of 170 bone fragments from the cremated individual indicated that she stood less than 150 centimetres tall and died between the ages of 18 and 60. A team of archaeologists also found stone tools, which may have been funerary objects, within the remains of the pyre.

"Surprisingly, there were no fragments of teeth or skull bones in the pyre," said Elizabeth Sawchuk, a bioarchaeologist and curator of human evolution at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.