A 12,000 Year-old Time Capsule With Plenty of Leftovers

The time of man is traditionally divided into two periods, before and after the advent of writing. Without written records, how can we learn about prehistoric man? After all, the earliest point in which true writing emerged  is estimated to be only five thousand years ago, in the Middle East.

Scientists must result to using less obvious ways to measure the evolution of human behavior and society. With no written word left behind, and most primitive structures destroyed or eroded over thousands of years of change, even the smallest of clues are invaluable and can lead to far-reaching observations.

Twelve thousand years ago during the Late Epipaleolithic period, farming the land was a concept that had yet to emerge. Roaming the land instead as hunter-gatherers, humans had little need to group together and form communities or even common religions and language to be shared across vast territory. Nevertheless, around 10,000 BCE, a group of men and women gathered around the fire with cattle and tortoises and had quite the meal.

Now, in the year 2010, a group of archaeologists stumbled upon their leftovers in the Hilazon Tachtit Cave in Israel’s Lower Galilee. What they found included fossilized remains of aurochs, the wild ancestors of today’s domesticated cattle.

Scientists have hypothesized that the 28 bodies found at the site, in addition to the areas used for feasts, is evidence that the site was used to commemorate the burial of the dead. One of the bodies, surrounded by tortoises, is believed to be a shaman according to University of Connecticut Professor Natalie D. Munroe.

So what does this all mean? According to the report published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, this marks the best evidence yet that feasting was done in pre-Neolithic times. Conventional wisdom has always said that feasts were an advent of the agricultural revolution which characterized the Neolithic time period. In layman’s terms, this either changes what a lot of people will think about communities of prehistoric man, or this was an isolated case of some pretty talented BBQ aficionados.

To read more, click here.

Photos by Natalie D. Munroe.

A look from outside the Hilazon Tachtit Cave, Israel

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