cramation 9,000 years ago

Oldest human cremation in the Near East unearthed

By Laura Geggel -

9,000 years ago, a young adult was cremated in a pit of flowers.0)

The Beisamoun pyre fields, where the cremated burial was discovered, during the crepuscular hours.

(Image: © © Mission Beisamoun)

The oldest known person to be intentionally cremated in the Near East took their last breath about 9,000 years ago, and their body went up in flames shortly thereafter, a new study finds.

The body wasn't simply thrown in a fire, however; whoever arranged the funeral pyre did so with care, archaeologists found by sifting through the body's burnt remains. It appears that the deceased was placed in a seated position, with their knees bent to their chest in a kiln-like pit. Then, a fire was ignited next to or under the deceased.

Until now, the earliest known cremation in the Near East dated to the sixth millennium B.C. Meanwhile, the oldest known human cremation in the world — the so-called "Mungo Lady," whose burned remains were found near Lake Mungo in New South Wales, Australia in 1969 — is much older, dating to about 40,000 years ago, according to a 2003 study in the journal Nature.