Jordanian Oasis Reveals Ancient Burial Customs
Bible and archaeology news
Archaeologists excavating two Epipalaeolithic sites near the Azraq oasis in Jordan’s eastern desert have found evidence of ancient burial customs dating back nearly 20,000 years. At the site of Ayn Qasiyya in the Azraq Wetlands Reserve, archaeologists found the remains of an Epipalaeolithic man whose corpse had apparently been bound and left exposed to the elements. At the nearby site of Qasr Kharaneh, however, human remains dating to the same period were discovered in a tomb-like structure, suggesting Epipalaeolithic groups may have already practiced class-based burial rituals. “Perhaps burial was preserved for people considered in some way special, while ‘normal’ people were given over to exposure,” said lead archaeologist Tobias Richter, though he added that, given the limited evidence, “it is very difficult to speculate.”
Archaeologists excavating two Epipalaeolithic sites near the Azraq oasis in Jordan’s eastern desert have found evidence of ancient burial customs dating back nearly 20,000 years.
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I imagine there could be a moving group or that there may have been the last few standing, and did not have time to bury the deceased . Being wrapped never stopped animals.
If the ‘exposed’ person was bound, why would the explanation be that he was a criminal? In this case, even the ‘wild animals’ didn’t want him (although a simple dust storm might have been a reasonable explanation–storm is coming, tie the crook up and leave him to it).