Child Who Lived 8,000 Years Ago May Have Been Buried With a Wolf
Archaeologists excavated the burial site in eastern Finland, shedding light on Stone Age funerary practices.
by Jasmine Liu
November 8, 2022
Artist Tom Björklund created a rendering of the child sleeping when still alive. (image by and courtesy Tom Björklund)
An excavation of the burial site of a child who lived around 8,000 years ago has yielded fascinating insights into the funerary practices of Stone Age humans. Archaeologists working on the site in Majoonsuo, a town in eastern Finland, uncovered some of the oldest feather fragments ever preserved in soil, providing insight into how researchers can analyze plant- and animal-based items that are interred with human remains.
A team of 13 archaeologists, biologists, and heritage professionals with institutional affiliations at the University of Helsinki, the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, and Stockholm University worked together on the excavation. Tuija Kirkinen, Olalla López-Costas, and Antonio Martínez Cortizas were lead authors of the study, published in PlosONE in late September.
The child would have been between three and 10 years old at the time of death — a conclusion scientists were able to draw by analyzing the child’s teeth. The findings allowed artist Tom Björklund to create an artistic rendering of what the child may have looked like while alive and sleeping.
Archaeologists also found fur, canine hair, and plant fibers. The latter may have come from utilitarian items like a fishing net or a rope, objects which would have since degraded severely in the acidic Finnish soil. Two transverse arrowheads fashioned from quartz, as well as two other objects possibly made of quartz, were discovered. Dating the arrowheads, researchers estimate that the burial took place during the Mesolithic period, around 6000 BCE.
More:
https://hyperallergic.com/778179/child-who-lived-8000-years-ago-may-have-been-buried-with-a-wolf/
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