Yes, the practice of burying the dead is ancient. But do they exhume? Megalithic tombs were not just graves. And a new study shows it. The authors are universities in Granada and Germany. The dead were excavated for other social practices in antiquity.
The use of human skeletal remains was common in megalithic societies. Perhaps they were considered relics. They were used to mark and maintain important interpersonal relationships. They could be recognized as the remains of ancestors or significant people.
The megaliths leave clues
Burial in burial chambers made of large stone slabs (megaliths) was a common burial practice. And it was manufactured in large parts of Western Europe for over 2,500 years. It was believed that these places were collective, possibly family burials. Excavation work has recently been carried out in the megalithic necropolis Panoría (Darro, Granada). The results were published this week in the Radiocarbon magazine.
A large presence of small, brittle bones was found. Bones from feet, hands, vertebrae or ribs. This is unusual because of their spongy condition, they tend to disappear earlier. This is mentioned by Aranda Jiménez from the Department of Prehistory and Archeology at the UGR. It says It is a statement.
Then why do they appear so often? The data obtained showed that the tomb was used for a short time. A few decades after 2500 BC However, the dating on the teeth was all older.
Magical reasons?
It would be obvious that Grave 10 was not just a burial room where human remains were deposited. Some of the remains deposited there were later excavated.
The presence of old teeth (and newer remains) signals a burial practice. The oldest skulls and long bones were removed at some point. The dead were excavated in ancient times. For what? For use in various social and ritual practices that are unknown.
Perhaps these skeletal remains were seen as the embodiment of the saint. This has been the case more recently. It is not unlikely that they have been attributed to supernatural powers. Or that they thought they were protecting them by warding off evil. It will always be a mystery, but it is very clear that they did it. They dug them up, selected some of the bones, and left others. A dark ending, but perhaps transcendent for the men of that time.
