Remains of the oldest known human burial in Africa have been unearthed by archaeologists, dating back to almost 80,000 years ago.
Researchers discovered the degraded bones of a three-year-old named Mtoto, which is the Swahili word for a child. The delicate bones were found while archaeologists were digging the floor beneath a sheltered overhang at the mouth of the Panga ya Saidi cave, located in Kenya’s coastal plain.
The remains were initially discovered in 2013. The bones were so fragile that they turned to dust when researchers tried to excavate them. Over the next four years, the scientists dug around the circular pit and encased the grave in plaster to safely be lifted from the ground. That block was then taken to the National Museum in Nairobi before being transported to a specialist lab in Spain. There, the remains were further examined and then imaged with 3D X-ray tools.
The images confirmed that the child’s legs were tucked to their chest, and their head likely laid on a pillow. The spine had remained intact, leading researchers to believe the small body was wrapped tightly in a shroud before being buried. Dating methods confirmed that the bones were 78,000 years old.
Two small teeth found in the grave matched Homo sapiens and confirmed the child to be between two and a half to three years old. Other parts that were still whole were other teeth still lodged in the child’s lower jaw, ribs, and other bones from the shoulder and limbs.
Michael Petraglia, who teaches human evolution and prehistory at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany, calls the discovery “quite spectacular.”
Nicole Bovin, the principal investigator on the project in Jena, says that early African burials are rare due to “biases in where research has been done.”
Older human burial sites have been found throughout the years outside of Africa. Human remains in the Skhul cave in Israel, and the Qafzeh cave near Nazareth are between 90,000 and 130,000 years old.
