from AP

A 100,000-year-old burial site in Israel is changing what we know about early humans

BY  MELANIE LIDMAN

Volunteers work in Tinshemet Cave, where archaeologists are excavating one of the world’s oldest known burial sites, dating back 100,000 years, near Shoam, Israel, Tuesday, July 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

SHOHAM, Israel (AP) — Archaeologists believe they have found one of the oldest burial sites in the world at a cave in Israel, where the well-preserved remains of early humans dating back some 100,000 years were carefully arranged in pits.

The findings at Tinshemet Cave in central Israel, published in an academic journal earlier this year, build on previous discoveries in northern Israel and add to a growing understanding of the origins of human burial.

Of particular interest to archaeologists are objects found beside the remains that may have been used during ceremonies to honor the dead and could shed light on how our ancient ancestors thought about spirituality and the afterlife.

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