The Gruesome Discovery
In the heart of the Amazon rainforest, a chilling discovery has shed light on the ancient practice of ritualistic violence. Researchers have uncovered the remains of a young man, dating back an astonishing 9,000 to 9,400 years, who was subjected to a ritualistic decapitation – the oldest known case in the Americas.
The Ritualistic Burial
The decapitated skull, found in a rock shelter in Lapa do Santo, East-Central Brazil, was accompanied by a macabre arrangement. The amputated right hand was placed over the left side of the face, with fingers pointing toward the chin, while the left hand was positioned over the right side, fingers pointing to the forehead. This meticulous placement hints at a profound ritualistic significance.
The Brutal Process
The extraction of the body parts was a gruesome affair, straight out of a horror movie. The man’s head was severed by blows from a sharp instrument to the neck, with evidence suggesting a twisted and distorted process to remove it from the body. Furthermore, the cuts on the bones indicate that the flesh had been stripped from the head before burial, though the cause of death remains unknown.
Insights into Ancient Practices
Neolithic Skull Cults
This ritualistic decapitation bears striking similarities to the Neolithic skull cults of the Middle East, where the deceased were often buried under the floors of homes, sometimes with their skulls removed, plastered, and painted. The placement of the hands also resembles the partial coverage of facial gestures seen in various cultural settings today, indicating the expression of emotions like tiredness, shock, or horror.
Local but Unique Individual
Isotope analysis of the man’s teeth revealed that he was a local, having grown up in the area where he was buried. However, measurements of his slightly larger skull suggest he may have been distinctive or unique within his community, perhaps leading to his selection for this ritual.
Shedding Light on South American Archaeology
This discovery is part of a growing body of revelations about South American archaeology, including evidence of early extensive landscape burning, large-scale deforestation, and the production of glyphs by pre-European cultures. As more discoveries like this emerge, it becomes increasingly clear that the practice of ritualistic violence and decapitation has a much longer history in the Americas than previously thought.
