Even around 14 thousand years ago, people were buried with flowers. The oldest example of this tradition has been unearthed on Mount Carmel in Israel.
Even around 14 thousand years ago, people were buried with flowers.
The oldest example of this tradition has been unearthed on Mount Carmel in Israel, where an ancient burial site with two bodies was found to contain evidence of flowers and stems of plants like mint and sage.
The burial site is part of a Natufian settlement in Raqefet Cave.
The Natufians are believed to be the first group of people to transition from a nomadic hunter-gatherer society into a settled agricultural one.
Analysis of the plant material under an electron microscope shows that it is remnants of flowers that were preserved in plaster.
Anna Belfer-Cohen, an archaeologist at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, wrote: “Each Natufian site provides something new and exciting to our knowledge on those people about 15,000 years ago. Raqefet is rather a brilliant and an outstanding example.”
Researchers are still trying to figure out who the people buried with the flowers were, their relationship to each other, and perhaps what role the flowers played in the ancient burial ceremony.
