Anthropologists at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the National Museum of Natural History of France have uncovered a half-century secret of the remains of a Neanderthal man who lived about 41 thousand years ago. Scientists have found evidence that the remains of a two-year-old child were deliberately buried, indicating the existence of rather complex rituals among the ancient people. This is reported in an article published in Scientific Reports.
Researchers have carefully analyzed bones found at the Neanderthal site of La Ferrassi in southwestern France and kept in a museum for 50 years, starting in the 1970s. They also examined the notebooks and field journals of archaeologists who excavated and believed the child had been buried.
According to the results obtained, the initial conclusion of the scientists was correct: the remains of the child were indeed buried. Thus, the researchers did not confirm the now popular point of view, according to which the version of deliberate burial was erroneous and was the result of errors in the methods of archaeologists.
The remains turned out to be in an older layer of sedimentary rocks, that is, ancient people specially dug a hole, where they carefully placed the body. This point of view is also confirmed by the fact that there were no traces of animal teeth or any impact on the remains, which means that the body was quickly buried.