Israeli scientists from the Ono Academic College and the University of Haifa studied the burial practices of modern humans (Homo sapiens) and Neanderthals who lived in the Levant region during the Middle Paleolithic era between 170 thousand and 55 thousand years ago. The study was published in the scientific journal L'Anthropologie.
The Levant includes territories in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, including the lands of Israel, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine.
Archaeologists examined a total of 17 Neanderthal burials and 15 Homo sapiens burials from various archaeological sites. They found similarities and differences in how the two species treated their dead.
According to experts, during the Middle Paleolithic, both humans and Neanderthals suddenly began burying their dead, something neither species had done before. This may indicate that this practice first arose in the Levant.
The study began with a study of the sites where skeletal remains of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals were found. These included five Neanderthal sites: the Teshik-Tash, Shanidar, Dederieh, Amud, Tabun and Kebara caves, as well as two Homo sapiens shelters: the Skhul and Qafzeh caves.
It turned out that both Homo sapiens and Neanderthals buried their dead regardless of gender or age. But Neanderthal infant burials were more common than human infant burials.
Both species sometimes deposited animal remains as grave goods, including deer and goat antlers, as well as mandibles and maxillae.
The researchers also observed differences. Thus, people buried their dead at the entrances to their caves and separate rock shelters, and Neanderthals placed them inside caves.
In addition, Homo sapiens burials were very uniform, usually in a flexed (fetal) position. This contrasts with Neanderthal burials, which were more varied and included bodies buried in flexed, extended (straight) and semi-flexed positions. Also, deceased Neanderthals could lie on their left or right side, as well as on their back.
Neanderthals more often used stones in their burials, placing the body between two large stones as a position marker or placing pieces of limestone under the heads of the deceased.
Likewise, some aspects of burial were practiced by Homo sapiens but not by Neanderthals, such as burials involving ocher and seashells, which were completely absent from Neanderthals.
According to the researchers, the emergence of funeral rites could be associated with an increase in population density caused by the influx of settlers from East Africa.
