Oldest Stone Age cemetery found

Oldest Stone Age cemetery found
Sat, 16 Aug 2008 16:13:36 GMT


A team of American dinosaur hunters has discovered the largest and oldest Stone Age graveyard in the middle of the Sahara desert.

Researchers at the University of Chicago found the cemetery in 2000, while searching for dinosaur fossils in northern Niger, AP reported.

"Everywhere you turned, there were bones belonging to animals that don't live in the desert," team-director and paleontologist Paul Sereno said.

"The most amazing find so far is a grave with a female and two children hugging each other. They were carefully arranged in this position. This strongly indicated they had spiritual beliefs and cared for their dead," said University of Cassino researcher and team-member, Elena Garcea.

The site has yielded some 200 graves as well as the remains of animals, large fish and crocodiles, shedding light on the Stone Age lifestyle and the way people adapted to climate change.

HRF/TE/HGH

217.218.67.243...

In the next few years there will be many amazing discoveries that will reveal much about or true origin.

[edit on 16-8-2008 by IvanZana]

WOW animals like fish and crocodiles

wow people theyre aswell

it didnt say in the thread but how old is this find

is it just that thinks atlantis was there before

it would explain all the sahara

thanks for post IvanZana

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing!


As usual though, I am confused. Are the humans and animals from the same time period? If so, why would they be buried together? Together meaning in the same spot, not the same grave.

The article is so very vague.

Ye it is very vague a fw more answers would be great

like how old is the site

are the people the same age as that

are the animals the same age

wher abouts in the sahara

Originally posted by billyjoinedat2k8
Ye it is very vague a fw more answers would be great

like how old is the site

are the people the same age as that

are the animals the same age

wher abouts in the sahara

Do you know when the Stone age was?

They probably say stone age because of the human bones dated to it?

They probably say stone age because of the animal bones dated to it?

The article says in the middle?

They must be able to get a specific date though

I read this on Science Daily. They also found pollen spores under the woman and children, indicating they were buried with flowers. They also know the children were 5 and 8. Amazing stuff.

Here's a more detailed report from National Geographic

The scientists eventually uncovered 200 burials of two vastly different cultures that span five thousand years—the first time such a site has been found at a single site.

Called Gobero, the area is a uniquely preserved record of human habitation and burials from the Kiffian (7700 to 6200 B.C.) and the Tenerian (5200 to 2500 B.C.) cultures, says a new study led by Sereno of the University of Chicago.

The "watershed" find also offers a new window into how these tribes lived and buried their dead during the extreme Holocene period, when a grassy Sahara dried up in the world's largest desert.

Great topic!! This is a fascinating find, and gives a lot more insight into the time before the Sahara was a desert.

reply to post by anachryon


Thanks for the additional info.