Posted on 07/01/2013 6:55:02 PM PDT by Pharmboy
The oldest example of grave flowers has been discovered in Israel.
An ancient burial pit dating to nearly 14,000 years ago contained impressions from stems and flowers of aromatic plants such as mint and sage.
The new find "is the oldest example of putting flowers and fresh plants in the grave before burying the dead," said study co-author Dani Nadel, an archaeologist at the University of Haifa in Israel.
snip...
Past evidence suggested that humans only started using flowers in graves more recently. (A 35,000-year-old Neanderthal burial site called Shanidar Cave in Iraq contained pollen, but subsequent research revealed that it was likely that rodents living in the caves brought the pollen there, not humans.)
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
VERY dried flowers ping...
So much of “science” is hoo-hah. But if it sounds good, you can get grants.
Very true; at least when I sat with my classmates during my graduation from medical school, the dean said to us: “Ten years from now half of what we taught you will turn out to be wrong.” That was real science talking.
I remember my Fluid Dynamics prof in my senior spring telling us that everything we learned in four years of the ME program was never going to be used again...but we had learned a highly disciplined method to tackle and solve problems. He was quite right.
Mint and sage both give off scent. I wonder if they were placed there for that reason?
Also both have been used in a metaphysical way.
Mint is a near-essential herb for your cabinet because of its powerful healing ability. For healing spells and prosperity in all forms, mint is a desirable base.
Sage is used in magic for wisdom, psychic awareness, long life and protection.
Could be this was for protection and healing in their next life.
Especially in mint juleps. ;-)
Mint is lovely. It keeps away unwanted pests too. I plant it around outbuildings to keep ants away. Works too.
People back then looked a lot like cartoon characters.
Mysterious Pair Buried With Flowers — Oldest Example Yet
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/07/130701-natufians-flowers-grave-funeral-science-ancient/
Oldest-Ever Graves Decorated with Flowers Found in Israel
http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/oldest-ever-graves-decorated-with-flowers-found-in-israel/2013/07/01/
A 35,000-year-old Neanderthal burial site called Shanidar Cave in Iraq contained pollen, but subsequent research revealed that it was likely that rodents living in the caves brought the pollen there, not humans.Obviously it's difficult to imagine how any research could "reveal" any such thing, so it was probably just part of the ongoing, puzzling anti-Neandertal smears, which are conducted by the Replacement advocates.
That’s right — science is a method, not a body of knowledge.
The Natufian Culture in the Levant, Threshold to the Origins of Agriculture
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/anthropology/v1007/baryo.pdf
Natufian culture
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natufian_culture
Natufian Beginnings: The consequences of a sedentary lifestyle — Alex Wilshaw
http://academia.edu/2236450/Natufian_Beginnings_The_consequences_of_a_sedentary_lifestyle
The Natufians — world first farmers
http://ebbaforssberg.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-natufians-world-first-farmers.html
Aromatic herbs cover or alter the stench of decomposition; use of them in a burial suggest those doing the burying were familiar with this, iow, had buried their dead before. For that matter, they may have needed to do this because they continued to live at the site, a practice found in Sumerian sites from thousands of years later.
Note for future anthropologists:
If you find a bunch of power tools, beer steins, sports equipment in my grave, that means I died first.
If you find a bunch of dried flowers, Longaberger baskets, candles, and pillow shams in my wife’s grave - that means SHE died first.
Indeed...the methodology for the approach to the patient, the ethics of medicine, the differential diagnosis of disease, etc., are all still used by my colleagues and me as we learned them; however, many of the specifics of disease process were incorrect...and since corrected.
First Funeral Flowers Found in Israel
http://www.archaeology.org/news/1044-130702-israel-raqefet-cave-natufian-flowers
Saying it With Flowers — 14,000 Years Ago
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2013/07/saying-it-with-flowers14000-year.html
Thank you, SunkenCiv, your input is always valuable knowledge.
To think, a need to ‘perfume’ the graves in order to better the neighborhood...
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