Old people who live in present -day Morocco about 15,000 years ago may have ritically explored some of the world’s greatest birds while burying their dead. The cut bones of great busards (Otis Tarda) who were recently discovered in one of the oldest cemeteries in the African continent, that these Avians were culturally important at the time. The findings are detailed in one Study recently published in the magazine IBIS.
In the Duifcave
About 14,700 years ago, a group of people lived and burned their dead in a cave in what is now Morocco. Called Taforalt Cave, or Grotte des PigeonsThis site contains graves of more than 30 old people. During this time, mammoths were still grazing the northern steppes and Sheep would no longer be domesticated for 5000 years.
This group started a transition between a semi-nomadic and a more regular life. Studying the other objects found within their graves offers scientists an insight into their daily lives and culture as a community.
Moreover, the environmental conditions are in the cave Keep the bones, tools and a huge range of organic material. Access to This kind of DNA certificate Allows researchers to build a more detailed picture of their lives. Previously discovered work that they were burning and Consuming the medicinal plant EphedraTogether with other foods such as juniper and acorns.
[ Related: Butchered skulls point to Europe’s Ice Age cannibals. ]
Recent findings suggest that their death rituals include the Great Bustard. Bustards are among the largest flying animals on the planet, with Males that regularly weigh around 44 pounds. Bustards still exist today, but they were again widespread in Europe, Asia and parts of North Africa. The new proof found in this cave confirms that the birds have a long history about the African continent – and have long been appreciated by people.
“We see a strong cultural association with the great Bustard because people not only deposit them in funerals, but there are also indications that they also eat them,” said in a statement. “We believe that this was part of the funeral rituals. It seems to be a party, which is a very specific type of ritual food.”
An old ritual party
The bones of slaughtered and boiled animals have been Found in the highest status digging. Some hold the skulls of wild sheep, but one specific funeral has the breastbone, a great buest with cut numbers. The team believes that this is proof of a meal similar to the Turkey eaten on Thanksgiving Day Or Christmas now.
The repeated presence of large Bustard -remains suggests that the Avians were culturally important. It would be one Lots of valuable time and effort To catch and prepare the animals, which suggests that ritual parties about routine behavior.
“This is a common behavior that means special food that people do their best, because that is then consumed in a kind of special context,” says Cooper. “The Habitat for the Grote Bustard is not really the kind of mountainous area around the cave in which the remains are found. They should go to the plains to catch the bustards, to return to the cave, prepare them, cook them and eat them.
Life among the Great Birds
Great Bustards are usually found in open grasslands and agricultural land, which require large areas of undisturbed land for breeding and life. Their breeding usually takes place in March when men will reveal themselves to women. They compete for female attention with extensive displays and violent battles in an area known as a leak.
They were already naturally vulnerable to human disruption because they need so much space, but they are also hunted for both food and sport. This hunting and habitat destruction has considerably fragmented their population.
The only population that is seen in Africa today is in Morocco, where the Species are considered critically threatened. This group is closely related to a population in Spain, but also genetically different. Yet there is some debate among biologists about how long Great Bustards had lived in North Africa. In the northwest of Morocco, About 70 birds Living in two small areas, but this new evidence indicates that their presence is going back for generations.
The Team hopes That the discovery that shows the old human connection with large Bustards, yields more conservation efforts to prevent this population from being extinct.
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