Embryo Burials in the Burnt City (ca. 3,000 BC) – Part 5/7
At the “Burnt City” in Iran, also known as ancient Persia, two graves were excavated that revealed a highly unusual type of burial: two embryos were buried with large clay bowls placed overtop of them.
Although other embryo burials were uncovered at the site, these two graves were quite unlike the rest. An anthropologist from the excavation team has suggested that the bowls were placed overtop of the embryos after they were placed in the grave, in order to protect their bodies from direct contact with the soil; this is unusual, because typically an embryo would be placed inside the bowl instead of underneath it.
Due to the unusually high number of infant burials from this occupation layer at the Burnt City, archaeologists believe that the mothers living here 5,000 years ago must have suffered from malnutrition.
Extra! Prostrate Man Dies… and is Buried That Way! (ca. 3,000 BC)
Following the theme of unusual burials, during the 2005 season of excavation, archaeologists at the Burnt City uncovered a burial of the prostrate figure of a young man. It appears as though the man was lying prostrate on the floor when he died – and was then buried in the same position!
The man was around 35 years old at the time of death, the cause of which has yet to be determined. Farzad Forouzanfar, director of the Anthropological Research Center of the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization of Iran, speculated that “this man must have died in this position while suffering a severe pain, and since the corpse was dried, its shape could not have been changed and was buried in the same position.”
A clay dish and a whetstone were also buried next to him, which were probably work tools.
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