Earliest floral grave lining from 13,700–11,700-y-old Natufian burials at Raqefet Cave, Mt. Carmel, Israel

Abstract

Flowering plants possess mechanisms that stimulate positive emotional and social responses in humans. It is difficult to establish when people started to use flowers in public and ceremonial events because of the scarcity of relevant evidence in the archaeological record. We report on uniquely preserved 13,700–11,700-y-old grave linings made of flowers, suggesting that such use began much earlier than previously thought. The only potentially older instance is the questionable use of flowers in the Shanidar IV Neanderthal grave. The earliest cemeteries ( ca . 15,000–11,500 y ago) in the Levant are known from Natufian sites in northern Israel, where dozens of burials reflect a wide range of inhumation practices. The newly discovered flower linings were found in four Natufian graves at the burial site of Raqefet Cave, Mt. Carmel, Israel. Large identified plant impressions in the graves include stems of sage and other Lamiaceae ( Labiatae ; mint family) or Scrophulariaceae (figwort family) species; accompanied by a plethora of phytoliths, they provide the earliest direct evidence now known for such preparation and decoration of graves. Some of the plant species attest to spring burials with a strong emphasis on colorful and aromatic flowers. Cave floor chiseling to accommodate the desired grave location and depth is also evident at the site. Thus, grave preparation was a sophisticated planned process, embedded with social and spiritual meanings reflecting a complex preagricultural society undergoing profound changes at the end of the Pleistocene.

Living on the good soil: relationships between soils, vegetation and human settlement during the late Allerød period in Denmark

“…Fishing was practised far back into the Palaeolithic (Gramsch et al 2013) and the numerous wetland areas formed by melting of stagnant ice provided potential freshwater areas for catching fish such as Esox lucius (pike) and Perca fluviatilis (perch), whose sticky eggs are quickly spread by waterfowl. Lastly there were also the vegetational resources which were not only used for food (Tyldesley and Bahn 1983;Aura et al 2005;Revedin et al 2010) but also provided for tool making and material culture (Riede 2012;Nadel et al 2013). It is therefore conceivable that the appearance of the Bromme Culture and its distribution should be seen in relation to the immigration of tree birch and the development of birch woods and the multifaceted landscape which emerged in the last half of the Allerød period.…”

Occupying wide open spaces? Late Pleistocene hunter–gatherer activities in the Eastern Levant

“…Traditionally, Early and Middle EP sites are characterized by non-geometric and geometric microliths, respectively; while Late EP sites include a number of industries, with the Natufian being the most well-known (e.g., Bar-Yosef, 1998;GoringMorris et al, 2009;Maher et al, 2012b). However, recent excavations at sites from throughout the EP are blurring these boundaries and shifting our attention to the rich evidence of other types of accompanying material culture (Grosman et al, 2008;Munro and Grosman, 2010;Richter et al, 2012Richter et al, , 2014Nadel et al, 2013;Olszewski and al-Nahar, this volume;Yaroshevich et al, 2014).…”

“…At the Natufian sites of Raqefet Cave (Nadel et al, 2013), Hilazon Tachtit (Grosman et al, 2008;Munro and Grosman, 2010), and Shubayqa (Richter et al, 2012(Richter et al, , 2014, evidence for very early floral linings for graves, special burial practices accompanied by feasting activities, and long-term and substantial occupation of groups outside of (but clearly culturally connected to) the Natufian core area (in the western Southern Levant) all point to a complex web of technological, social and symbolic activities. Going back even further in the EP, Early EP sites in the Wadi al-Hasa region of southern Jordan clearly point towards repeated occupation and the persistence of particular locations in the landscape (Olszewski and al-Nahar, this volume).…”

A linear sequence to facilitate curation of herbarium specimens of Annonaceae

“…The ordering of the plant world has been attempted ever since the origin of modern man, and even before. Neanderthals were able to distinguish fruit, nuts, roots, bulbs and tubers that were exploited as food resources (Henry et al 2011), and upper palaeolithic hunter-gatherers recognised and categorised plants for economic and ritual uses (Nadel et al 2013;Power et al 2014). From Theophrastus onwards, in the fourth century BC, botanists have attempted to organise plants into classification systems.…”