Child s body found in Kenyan cave is earliest known human burial in Africa
Archaeologists say the child, who died aged no more than three, appears to have been wrapped in a shroud and had a pillow placed under their head by their grieving family
Updated
Evidence of the burial was found by archaeologists in Panga ya Saidi, a cave site on the Kenyan coast (Image: SWNS)
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A group of archaeologists has found the oldest deliberate burial of a modern human ever discovered in Africa, dating back 78,300 years ago. The discovery sheds new light on the early origins of this ancient practice.
A cave in Kenya has now been identified as the oldest intentional human burial site in Africa, with luminescence dating showing that the burial took place around 78,300 years ago. Excavation of the Panga ya Saidi cave, located to the north of Mombasa, revealed a grave located under a sheltered overhang, 3 meters (9.8 feet) deep below the present-day cave floor. The discovery was reported in a paper published today in the journal Nature.
“As soon as we first visited Panga ya Saidi, we knew that it was special,” said Professor Nicole Boivin, principal investigator of the original project, in a statement. “The site is truly one of a kind.”
It is a scene that exudes sadness: a child perhaps 2-1/2 or 3 years old buried in a shallow grave under the sheltered overhang of a cave, head resting on a pillow and the upper part of the body carefully wrapped in a shroud.