BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

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.