Some cultures bury their dead much differently than others, such as the differences seen between Tibetan sky burials and what we may traditionally observe in western, Judeo-Christian burial rites. One of my first anthropology courses facilitated studying these differences.

In that class, we surveyed the different headstones of local cemeteries. We compared and contrasted trends in culture over time as represented by changes in headstones. How people revered their dead was represented in the everlasting forms and figures adorning any graveyard. That lesson illuminated to me differences in burying our dead from group to group, and from time to time.

Furthermore, how we bury our dead reflects each buried individual’s personhood. A mausoleum nowadays represents a different social status of the deceased compared to a simple cross adorning a mound of dirt… Just as the Great Pyramids of Giza did in the past. For various reasons beyond the scope of this post, some cultures delay personhood toward groups of people. And it is not uncommon that infants have delayed personhood, especially upon death.

Suffice to say, mortuary rites are of significant importance in understanding human practices and cultures. It is the lasting evidence of those individuals being. But, as you can imagine, the earlier we go into the human experience, the less we know of these practices. The paleontological and archaeological record of early human burials is sparse. So, any finding is impactful.

A newly published paper in Nature Scientific Reports of a highly decorated burial of a young female infant, 40 to 50 days old at the time of her death

Her time of life was during the early Mesolithic period. This is a period where well-documented burials are so rare. The early Mesolithic, or even Middle and Upper Paleolithic records of infant burials can be summarized by inadequate excavations. For example, the 27,000-year-old twins buried at Krems-Watchberg have minimal documentation

Later Mesolithic and even early Neolithic burials, on the other hand, sites such as Lepenski Vir are more established. This site has yielded the burial of 40 young infants where both females and males were buried similarly with no strong differentiating factors based upon grave goods

The burial of Neve is different. In contrast to other early Mesolithic sites, her recovery is well documented and thoroughly analyzed. From her in utero nutritional status to the time where she had maximal stress prior to her death, the authors were able to extract and analyze so much. For example, she was buried with a rich selection of burial goods. Alongside her, she had over 60 pierced shell beads and three pendants, as well as an eagle-owl talon. This treasure trove of funerary artifacts signifies the grief and loss of such a young baby girl to this ancient culture. The artifacts that accompanied her body demonstrate her people recognized her as a full person. Even her cave site resembles a sort of steeped chapel, as seen below.

Of interest, Neve’s burial is similar to a ~6-week old infant girl buried in a site in the Upper Sun River, in Alaska

When personhood is attributed towards infants, in the form of ornaments in the grave, it bolsters status beyond death. It makes me wonder, just who was Neve, a baby less than two months old to these people to have such an ordained grave? And the extension of such funerary treatment to female infants among early Mesolithic people indicates a degree of egalitarianism regardless of age or sex/gender, another curiously in itself as we continue to struggle with treating all people equally nowadays.