Ideas, Inventions And Innovations Oldest Human Burial Yet Discovered: 78,000 Year Old Grave Holds Child A new study, appearing in Nature on May 5, reports the oldest known modern human burial in Africa. The 2.5 to 3 year old child was buried in a stooped position in a shallow grave directly under the protective rock overhang at the entrance to the cave. The burial in Panga ya Saidi joins the growing number of references to early complex social behavior Homo sapiens . The Pangy ya Saidi cave on the coast of Kenya. The 78,000-year-old burial of a child was discovered in the pit in the foreground, secured by planks.