Post by UKarchaeology on Nov 11, 2015 20:06:33 GMT
A 3,000 year-old village discovered in central California has been found to contain an unusual set of burials — with more than a half dozen individuals buried without their heads, and nearly as many others buried intact, with an extra skull by their side.
In two of the graves, the crowns of the severed skulls had even been fashioned into smooth, polished bowls.
But despite this eerie tableau, these decapitations are not signs of violence or war, archaeologists say.
Instead, analysis of the remains shows that they may be evidence of an ancient method of paying tribute to ancestors — possibly even a way of re-uniting family members after death.
“In our own society, we sometimes keep the ashes of our ancestors in a vase on our mantle, or keep photographs of them to remind us,” said Dr. Jelmer Eerkens, an anthropologist at the University of California at Davis, who led the study of the remains.
“But in some societies, they kept the bones of their ancestors.”
The village was first uncovered in 2002, during the construction of a development project near the town of Brentwood, about 70 kilometers [45 miles] east of Oakland on the banks of a small stream known as Marsh Creek.
A large-scale archaeological excavation followed, revealing the remnants of cooking fires, sites for making food and tools, and nearly 500 human burials.
Some artifacts dated back more than 7,000 years, but radiocarbon dates from more than 130 of the burials returned dates ranging from 3,000 to 4,000 years ago.
Full story & pics: westerndigs.org/severed-heads-skull-bowls-found-in-california-graves-were-tributes-not-war-trophies-study-finds/
In two of the graves, the crowns of the severed skulls had even been fashioned into smooth, polished bowls.
But despite this eerie tableau, these decapitations are not signs of violence or war, archaeologists say.
Instead, analysis of the remains shows that they may be evidence of an ancient method of paying tribute to ancestors — possibly even a way of re-uniting family members after death.
“In our own society, we sometimes keep the ashes of our ancestors in a vase on our mantle, or keep photographs of them to remind us,” said Dr. Jelmer Eerkens, an anthropologist at the University of California at Davis, who led the study of the remains.
“But in some societies, they kept the bones of their ancestors.”
The village was first uncovered in 2002, during the construction of a development project near the town of Brentwood, about 70 kilometers [45 miles] east of Oakland on the banks of a small stream known as Marsh Creek.
A large-scale archaeological excavation followed, revealing the remnants of cooking fires, sites for making food and tools, and nearly 500 human burials.
Some artifacts dated back more than 7,000 years, but radiocarbon dates from more than 130 of the burials returned dates ranging from 3,000 to 4,000 years ago.
Full story & pics: westerndigs.org/severed-heads-skull-bowls-found-in-california-graves-were-tributes-not-war-trophies-study-finds/