Australian researchers help date ancient child’s burial to 78,000 years
By Melissa Coade
Thursday May 6, 2021
Maasai sitting by the ocean on the beach. (Image: Adobe/shangarey)
The earliest known deliberate burial of humans living in Africa has been found in a cave in Kenya, with the discovery of bone fragments of a small child.
The body of a small 2.5-3-year old child, known by researchers as ‘Mtoto’ (‘child’ in Swahili), was buried in the cave near the coast of Kenya, on its side and with legs drawn up to its chest.
The finding at Panga ya Saidi, reported in
By Alison Crowther, Senior Lecture in Archaeology, The University of Queensland Mohammad Javad Shoaee
Africa is often referred to as the cradle of humankind – the birthplace of our species,
Homo sapiens. There is evidence of the development of early symbolic behaviours such as pigment use and perforated shell ornaments in Africa, but so far most of what we know about the development of complex social behaviours such as burial and mourning has come from Eurasia.
However, the remains of a child buried almost 80,000 years ago under an overhang at Panga ya Saidi cave in Kenya is providing important new details.
A coastal cave in Kenya sheltered the body of a tiny child no longer than three, who was arrayed as if still sleeping, in a purposely dug grave for roughly 78,000 years. Unearthed by archeologists, it is the oldest human burial discovered in Africa to date.
Archeological clues tell that the child was loved by those who buried it: Its body was wrapped in a perishable cloth before it was placed in a grave with legs drawn up to the chest, according to a press release. The toddler s head was resting on what was probably a makeshift pillow.
An artist’s interpretation of Mtoto’s burial. Source: Fernando Fueyo