US EditionOldest known cremation pyre in Africa reveals mysterious woman who lived 9,500 years ago
The cremation pyre required significant communal effort with over 30 kg of fuel and stone tools, indicating complex ritual practices by hunter-gatherers 9,500 years ago.
- Researchers discovered the oldest known cremation pyre in Africa, dating back 9,500 years, involving the cremation of an adult woman.
- Analysis of the 170 bone fragments and pyre sediments suggests her cremation involved complex rituals and communal efforts.
- Evidence indicates the cremation site was a landmark that people remembered and revisited over 1,200 years for ritual burning events.
59 Articles
59 Articles
9,500-year-old cremation pyre of a hunter-gatherer woman is the...
Hunter-gatherers cremated the headless body of a woman in a pyre around 9,500 years ago in what is now Malawi. The 9,500-year-old remains of a woman in Malawi have set a new record, marking Africa's oldest evidence of intentional cremation, as well as the earliest known cremation pyre for an adult that is still "in situ," or in its original position, a new study finds. The pyre is located at a hunter-gatherer burial ground at the foot of Mount H…
Large Hunter-Gatherer Pyre Discovered in Central Africa - Archaeology Magazine
Sediment block with striped ash layers NORMAN, OKLAHOMA—According to a statement released by the University of Oklahoma, a cremation pyre dated to 9,500 years ago has been discovered in northern Malawi. Prior to the discovery, the oldest-known intentional cremation in Africa had been dated to 3,500 years ago. The large ash feature contained some 170 bone fragments of an adult woman whose remains were likely burned within a few days of her death.…
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