Investigating ancient burials in western Africa.
[sciencythoughts.blogspot.com]
The organised disposal of the dead is considered to be an important step in the development of Human cognition, an activity driven by the needs of the living to cope with the loss of a loved one, rather than any need of the deceased. In Africa, the earliest burials appear about 90 000 years ago, and are generally of single people thought to have been buried by nomadic or semi-nomadic peoples, with notable examples at Taramsa I in Egypt (about 55 000 years old), Shum Laka in Cameroon (7100-6900 and 3300-3000 years old), Mbi-Crater, also in Cameroon (about 7790 years old), Wadi Kubbaniya in Egypt 19 000-17 000 years old), Amekni in Algeria (9000-8000 years old), Ti-n-Hanakaten, also in Algeria (about 6000 years old), and Iwo Eleru in Nigeria (16 000-11 000 years old). These are eventually replaced by the emergence of formal cemeteries, about 25 000-23 000 years ago, in which the dead are buried together at sites dedicated to the purpose, thought to be a sign of people living together in settled communities, with notable examples at Mechta el Arbi in Algeria (22 000-13 000 years old), Afalou Bou Rhummel, also in Algeria (12 450-10 500 years old), Columnata, again in Algeria (8300-7300 years old), Taforalt in Morocco (15 100-14 000 years old), and in northern Sudan (14 340-13 140 years old).