December 17, 2013

Strong evidence that Neandertals were the first humans to intentionally bury their dead has come from an analysis of fossil bones excavated at a cave in France. The findings suggest that the Neandertals, long thought of as brutish cave dwellers who lacked the cultural sophistication of physically modern humans, had funeral customs that indicate complex symbolic behavior.

The Neandertals were an early human population who lived in Ice Age Europe and central Asia from about 150,000 to 35,000 years ago. They had distinct physical features, including a large, protruding face, massive browridges, and low foreheads. Most Neandertals also lacked a chin. Today, many scientists classify Neandertals (also spelled Neanderthals) as an extinct, early subspecies of Homo sapiens, the species of modern people. Over the past century, archaeologists have interpreted several Neandertal sites as grave sites. This suggests the Neandertals were the first to practice burial as a funeral custom, a cultural practice that others consider unique to physically modern humans. Other archaeologists disputed the evidence for Neandertal burials, suggesting that excavators had misconstrued the evidence from cave sites, where concentrations of bones may result from the activity of predators.

Neandertals lived in Europe and Central Asia from about 150,000 to 35,000 years ago. (© Jay H. Matternes)

Beginning in 1999, William Rendu, a paleontologist at the Center for International Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences (CIRHUS) in New York City, led an international team of archaeologists, geologists and anthropologists to re-examine hundreds of Neandertal skeletal remains from a cave called La Chapelle-aux-Saints. This 50,000-year-old site in southwestern France was originally excavated between 1905 and 1908.  The team searched surrounding caves and discovered additional remains, including the bones of two Neandertal children and one adult. Hundreds of animals bones, including those from reindeer and bison, were also studied, as was the geology of the cave complex.

Rendu’s team reported that the Neandertal bones showed no sign of erosion or evidence they had been disturbed or chewed by animals. This suggests the bones were buried soon after death. In contrast, the animal bones at the cave site showed signs of butchery, a great deal of erosion, and other damage. Most of the Neandertal bones were found in a depression that could not have been a natural formation in the cave floor. The scientists concluded that the evidence shows the remains were intentionally buried.

Today, all human societies have various traditions, rituals, rites, and ceremonies that are performed after a person dies. Anthropologists observe that funeral customs, including burial, are deeply rooted in a people’s cultural heritage and beliefs about death. Unfortunately, Neandertal sites usually do not preserve any evidence of other funeral customs. However, archaeologists must now reassess evidence from other Neandertal sites that may show evidence of ritual or symbolic behavior that many experts originally considered beyond the capabilities of these intriguing prehistoric humans.

Additional World Book articles:

• Anthropology (2010) (A Back in Time article)
• Anthropology (2009) (A Back in Time article)
• Anthropology (1989) (A Back in Time article)
• Anthropology (1958) (A Back in Time article)
• Anthropology (1933) (A Back in Time article)

August 8, 2013

The discovery of charred remains from two Neolithic longhouses that likely served as “Halls of the Dead” for ancient Britons nearly 6,000 years ago have been reported by archaeologists in the United Kingdom. The wooden remains were uncovered within two barrows (earthen mounds) excavated at Dorstone Hill, near Hereford, by archaeologists from the University of Manchester and the Hereford Council. The longhouses were used by Neolithic people to house the bodies of high-status people. Archaeologists believe that such structures were revered because ancient Europeans believed that the household was as significant to the dead as it was to the living.

Ancient people in what is now the United Kingdom and Ireland constructed barrows from about 4000 B.C. until the start of Saxon rule, about A.D. 450 to 500. The oldest barrows date to the early Neolithic period, when the ancient Britons were starting to settle into small communities. The barrows at Dorstone Hill predate the construction of the massive complex at Stonehenge by about 1,000 years.

Upright stones surround a large barrow at West Kennet, in southern England. A barrow is a mound of earth, stone, or both built over an ancient burial place. Remains of barrows appear in many parts of the United Kingdom and Ireland. (© Alan King, Alamy Images)

Archaeologists discovered the two barrows at Dorstone Hill while surveying a field where ancient flint artifacts were found over many years. While excavating the two barrows, which are 230 feet (70 meters) and 98 feet (30 meters) in length, they discovered unusually well-preserved remains of the wooden longhouses. Much of the detail of the two longhouses could be seen from the pattern of charred timbers and stakes as well as postholes visible as patches of darkened earth. The remains revealed a pair of long buildings with aisles and internal partitions framed by upright posts that held up a wooden or thatch roof. Hard chunks of burnt clay scattered about indicated the walls of the longhouses were covered with a mud daub.

At the end of the smaller barrow, darkened earth showed a pattern of large upright posts surrounding a long trough that would have been lined with wooden planks. This structure was likely used as mortuary chamber, where the bodies of 30 to 70 people were held. The dead were usually buried in such chambers long after all the flesh had rotted away.

Archaeologists believe the longhouses were deliberately burned down after some time and the ashes were used to construct the earthen barrows. The halls were most likely burned after some critical event occurred, such as when the head of an important family died. But no human remains have been preserved in the acidic soils of Dorstone Hill. The barrow would have served as a reminder to future generations that an important person was buried at this location. The archaeologists found several fine flint blades buried in the barrows suggesting that people occasionally returned to the site to leave offerings for the dead.

Additional World Book articles:

• Arthur, King
• Celts
• Celtic art
• Druids
• England (History)

November 9, 2012

An ancient skeleton discovered with metal spikes driven through its shoulders, heart, and ankles may be the earliest known vampire burial in Europe, according to a new report released by British archaeologist Matthew Beresford this month. The unusual burial, which dates to between 550 and 700 A.D., was originally excavated in 1959 in the town of Southwell, near Nottingham in the United Kingdom. While archaeologists considered the burial odd, they did not investigate it at the time, and the skeleton was placed in storage and forgotten until now. Recently, Beresford re-examined the skeleton and the site of the burial. He has concluded that it shows an ancient belief in vampires and provides real evidence of the steps people once took to protect themselves from the undead.

Bela Lugosi was a Hungarian actor who gained fame on the stage and in motion pictures as the vampire Count Dracula. As the count in the 1931 horror film Dracula, Lugosi attacked one of the vampire's victims, played by Helen Chandler. (Shooting Star)

According to European legends, a vampire is a corpse that supposedly returns to life and feeds upon the blood of the living.  Stories of similar creatures come from many parts of the world. Most vampire tales originated in Eastern European and Balkan countries, such as Hungary and Romania, but were widespread in Europe. People who committed suicide, died violently, or were condemned by their church supposedly could become vampires. Traditional burial practices in many places developed out of fear that the dead would emerge from the grave as vampires.

Many aspects of the Southwell burial strongly suggested people feared the occupant of the grave might be a vampire. The location of the burial at the fringes of what was a late Roman-era settlement was one indication. Beresford knew that in the past, certain people were buried away from the town or village, along roadsides or near road intersections. This was thought to be far enough away from town to keep vampires from coming back or to confuse them so they would become lost and not return to the town. As an extra precaution, some bodies were staked or pinned into the grave, as was the case in the Southwell burial.

Beresford stated that such treatment was usually reserved for people who were “thieves, murderers or traitors or later for those deviants who did not conform to society’s rules, including adulterers, disrupters of the peace, the unpious or oath breakers.”  Such people were considered especially more likely to return from the dead as vampires. Whether the person in the grave was an actual vampire or simply a social outcast who violated the rules of his society cannot be known. An initial examination of the skeleton’s teeth, however, showed only normal dentition.

Additional World Book articles:

• Dracula
• Folklore
• Rice, Anne
• Meyer, Stephenie
• Transylvania