Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD, United Kingdom.
Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD, United Kingdom.
J Hum Evol. 2019 Oct;135:102637. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.07.001. Epub 2019 Aug 13.
Infant remains are relatively uncommon in the late Pleistocene (Upper Palaeolithic) archaeological record. Funerary treatment is considered indicative of social status and mirrors cultural attitudes toward the deceased or the group they represent. Here we report on the burials of six infants, including three who died at birth or shortly thereafter, from Later Stone Age (Iberomaurusian) levels at Grotte des Pigeons, Taforalt, in Morocco dating to ∼14,500 cal BP. Funerary treatment of the infants was equivalent to that of older individuals within the community, indicating an inclusive social status. The burials of two of the six infants, shown by previous aDNA analysis to be brother and sister, were overlain by ochre stained grinding stones that may have served as grave markers. In this case, a uniquely shared funerary treatment mirrored a close biological relationship, suggesting that kinship contributed to the patterning of funerary behavior within this Pleistocene burial assemblage.
在更新世晚期（旧石器时代晚期）的考古记录中，婴儿遗骸相对较少。丧葬处理被认为是社会地位的标志，反映了文化对死者或其代表的群体的态度。在这里，我们报告了来自摩洛哥塔福拉尔特鸽子洞的晚期石器时代（伊伯罗毛里人）层的六名婴儿的埋葬情况，其中包括三名在出生后或不久后死亡的婴儿，其年代约为 14500 年 cal BP。婴儿的丧葬待遇与社区内的老年人相同，表明他们具有包容性的社会地位。通过之前的 aDNA 分析显示为兄妹的两名婴儿的埋葬被赭石染色的磨石覆盖，这些磨石可能曾用作墓地标志。在这种情况下，独特的共同丧葬待遇反映了密切的生物关系，这表明亲属关系促成了这个更新世葬组合中丧葬行为的模式。
