6,000-Year-Old Infant Discovered In Warm Embrace
Archaeologists in Netherlands have recently uncovered a grave containing a 6,000-year-old baby with intact teeth resting in the arms of a woman, believed to be its mother.
The baby grave, according to them, was the oldest to date in Netherlands, dating back to the Stone Age, and was unearthed at the location in Nieuwegein, Utrecht.
The right arm of the skeletal remains of the 30-year-old woman was bent at an unusual angle, crooked instead of straight – the common posture of other skeletons at the site.
Closer examination illustrated bone fragments of an infant lying in her arm, indicating that the woman was holding her baby upon her burial.
The leader of the archaeological team, Helle Molthof, revealed, “The posture of the woman’s body did not conform to what we had found so far, that is, bodies whose limbs are placed parallel to the body. We then made the moving discovery that she was in fact cradling a little baby.”
A tiny jaw containing numerous baby teeth was among the bone fragments submitted for investigation, leading to scientists believe that the infant was just a couple of months old when it died.
Further DNA analysis will unravel the exact relationship between the two: whether the woman was the infant’s mother or not, as well as the baby’s gender.
Experts are also looking forward to obtaining more knowledge on the burial ceremonies of the hunter-gatherer communities resided along the banks of the River Vecht.
“We know how they lived, what sort of food they ate, what their houses were like but we don’t know very much yet about how they buried their dead and what happened to the children,” Molthof said.
H/T: NYPost
The baby grave, according to them, was the oldest to date in Netherlands, dating back to the Stone Age, and was unearthed at the location in Nieuwegein, Utrecht.
Source: Pinterest
The right arm of the skeletal remains of the 30-year-old woman was bent at an unusual angle, crooked instead of straight – the common posture of other skeletons at the site.
Closer examination illustrated bone fragments of an infant lying in her arm, indicating that the woman was holding her baby upon her burial.
The leader of the archaeological team, Helle Molthof, revealed, “The posture of the woman’s body did not conform to what we had found so far, that is, bodies whose limbs are placed parallel to the body. We then made the moving discovery that she was in fact cradling a little baby.”
A tiny jaw containing numerous baby teeth was among the bone fragments submitted for investigation, leading to scientists believe that the infant was just a couple of months old when it died.
Source: Pinterest
Further DNA analysis will unravel the exact relationship between the two: whether the woman was the infant’s mother or not, as well as the baby’s gender.
Experts are also looking forward to obtaining more knowledge on the burial ceremonies of the hunter-gatherer communities resided along the banks of the River Vecht.
“We know how they lived, what sort of food they ate, what their houses were like but we don’t know very much yet about how they buried their dead and what happened to the children,” Molthof said.
H/T: NYPost
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