Ancient humans came together 35,000 years ago in the deepest, darkest part of a cave in what is now western Galilee, Israel, to hold ritualistic gatherings. This appears to be the earliest known example of such gatherings on the Asian continent.
Discovered in 2008, Manot cave has a long history of associations with both humans and Neanderthals. Existing research suggests the cave was inhabited from the Late Middle Paleolithic through to the Early Upper Paleolithic periods up until its entrance collapsed around 30,000 years ago.
It was home to both humans and Neanderthals at different times. In 2015, scientists identified a 55,000-year-old skull that offered physical evidence of interbreeding between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, with characteristics from both visible in the fragments.
The cave itself consists of a large main hall and two side chambers. The cave’s living space was likely located nearer its entrance – but in its deepest part, located around eight stories down, was a space that was used as a gathering place, possibly for rituals that strengthened social connections. In this space, there is a rock that has been deliberately placed within a niche in the cavern; this rock has a tortoise-shell design carved into it that appears to be contemporaneous with some of the oldest cave paintings in France.
“It may have represented a totem or spiritual figure,” Omry Barzilai, Head of Material Culture PaleoLab at the University of Haifa and the Israel Antiquities Authority explained in a statement. “Its special location, far from the daily activities near the cave entrance, suggests that it was an object of worship.”
The carved stone showing what looks like a tortoise shell shape was deliberately placed in a niche in the cave by ancient humans.
Image credit: Clara Amit, Israel Antiquities Authority.
In addition to the unusual stone, there is evidence of wood ash on the surrounding stalagmites, which suggests people carried torches into the cavern to light it. This space also has good natural acoustics, which would have been favorable for large gatherings.
The cave and the dentists
Although Manot Cave has been the subject of archaeological research for nearly two decades, many of the researchers are not those you would not necessarily associate with the subject. In 2012, Case Western Reserve’s School of Dental Medicine got involved in the excavation by committing both financial support and dental students to work at the site.
Although they are not trained in archaeology, dental students can be extremely useful for identifying bone fragments from rock, which has been invaluable at Manot Cave.
“Most people would not suspect that a dental school would be involved in an archaeological excavation,” Mark Hans, professor and chair of orthodontics at the dental school added. “But one of the things that are preserved very well in ancient skeletons are teeth, because they are harder than bone. There is a whole field of dental anthropology. As an orthodontist, I am interested in human facial growth and development, which, it turns out, is exactly what is needed to identify anthropological specimens.”
For 10 years, Case Western Reserve has sent between 10 and 20 dental students to help with excavations during the summer season. This summer research has become so popular that students from other dental and medical schools have been applying to visit Israel with the team.
The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Source Link: Engraved Rock Indicates Ancient Cave Was Used For Rituals 35,000 Years Ago
