First intact burials at Göbeklitepe reveal why hundreds of bones were scattered
12,000-year-old Göbeklitepe burials explain scattered bones
Archaeologists have uncovered the first two intact burials at Göbeklitepe, dating to 8,700–8,000 BCE. One pit held at least three individuals—a woman, a man, and a girl—with skulls grouped together and small hand and foot bones still present. The bones show no cut marks or ochre, but rodent gnawing and soil damage match the 928 scattered fragments found across the site. The findings suggest many loose bones came from ordinary subfloor graves that erosion later carried into the monumental buildings.
The scattered bones don’t need to represent one unusual burial rite. Many likely came from normal subfloor burials that were later disturbed by the movement of the mound.
- BenFranklin100
I can’t tell if this scientific article summary is bad AI writing or bad human writing.
- culi
More evidence for David Graeber and David Wengrow's reading of the site.
Between Göbekli Tepe, Poverty Point, Cahokia, and other sites we have pretty good evidence of complex urban societies that did not rely on agriculture. And even in these few sites we have abundant evidence of diversity of social structures from radically egalitarian to hierarchical
The linear narrative of the evolution of human societies is dead
- itopaloglu83
Some people were quick to jump on the gun and call it a human sacrifice site, I’m glad that they’re all proven wrong now.
- ferrule
Always assumed those scattered bones were just, well, scattered. It's cool how a new understanding of burial practices provides such a neat explanation.
- MadrasTh0rn
Was subfloor burial common in Neolithic?