An ancient grave unearthed in modern-day Israel containing 50 tortoise shells, a human foot and body parts from numerous animals is likely one of the earliest known shaman burial sites, researchers said on Monday. The 12,000-year-old grave dates back to the Natufian people who were the first society to adopt a sedentary lifestyle, Hebrew University of Jerusalem researcher Leore Grosman and colleagues said."The interment rituals and the method used to construct and seal the grave suggest this is the burial of an ancient shaman, one of the earliest known from the archaeological record," they wrote in the Proceedings of the National Academy ofSciences. Shamans play an important role in many cultures, mediating between the human and spiritual worlds and acting as messengers, healers, magicians to serve the community, the researchers said.The Israeli team found the bones in a small cave in the lower Galilee region of present-day Israel that was a Natufian burial ground for a least 28 people.
At the time
of burial, more than 10 large stones were placed directly on the head,
pelvis, and arms of the elderly woman whose body was laid on its side.
The legs were spread apart and folded inward at the knee.
The special treatment of
the body and use of stones to keep it in a certain position suggests
the woman held a unique position in the community, likely some sort of
a shaman, the researchers said.
"The burial ofthe
woman...is unlike any burial found in the Natufian or the preceding
Palaeolithic periods," Grosman's team wrote.
"We argue that this burial
is consistent with expectations for a shaman's grave."
The woman was also interred
with some unusual grave goods, including the complete tortoise shells
and select body-parts of a wild boar, an eagle, a cow, a leopard, and
two martens, as well as a complete human foot.
The grave portrays several
hallmarks that later become central in the spiritual arena of cultures
worldwide, the researchers added.
"Tortoises, cow tails,
eagle wings, and fur-bearing animals continue to play important
symbolic and shamanistic roles in the spiritual arena of human cultures
worldwide today," they wrote.
"It seems that the woman in the Natufian burial waspercei......
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The 'rain' man
'Voodoo-cursed' woman is jailed
Voodoo History
'Spy' used voodoo to shield general from Taliban
Voodoo Day celebrated in Benin
Rainmaker ritual helps date ancient droughts
The mystical experience of shamanism
Peru shamans perform protective ritual
Voodoo priest: "My exorcisms get results"
