29,000-year-old remains of child unearthed in Thailand cave with 'symbols of blood and power'
The 29,000-year-old bones of a child discovered in Thailand are the oldest human remains ever found in the country, archaeologists have announced.
The child — nicknamed "Pangpond," after a Thai cartoon character — was likely living with their family of hunter-gatherers near the coast before their untimely death. Both the skeleton and the method of burial are revealing groundbreaking information about Stone Age Thailand.
The discovery was announced last month at a news conference held by the Thai government's Fine Arts Department and Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation. The skeleton, along with numerous cave paintings, was found at the Tham Din (Earthen Cave) archaeological site in Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park.
In 2020, archaeologists began studying paintings made in red ocher on the walls and ceiling of three chambers at Tham Din, according to the Prachuap Post. Most of the paintings represented people, and some were depicted using bows and arrows to hunt animals such as deer and monkeys. The stones and red ocher may be symbols of blood and power, lead archaeologist Kannika Premjai told the Bangkok Post.
When excavations began in 2022, archaeologists noticed animal bones, shells, seeds and stones that suggested that prehistoric humans used the cave. Radiocarbon dating of the material suggested they lived there from about 29,000 to 11,000 years ago, although it is unclear precisely when the cave paintings were made.
Beneath those artifacts, archaeologists recently discovered the burial of a modern human (Homo sapiens) child, around 6 to 8 years old, who was stretched out on their back, with their arms and legs close to their body. Thai Fine Arts Department archaeologists said that this specific positioning of the body likely indicates the corpse was wrapped or tied before burial, as reported by Thai PBS World.
Related: New, big-headed archaic humans discovered: Who is Homo juluensis?
The presence of ash and charcoal in the grave suggests that, once the body was placed in the prepared grave, a fire was built around it. The idea was to smoke the body in order to drive away wild animals and eliminate the odor of decomposition, the Prachuap Post reported.
The burial's location below the already-dated organic remains suggests the child lived during the late Pleistocene epoch, more than 29,000 years ago, Kannika told the Bangkok Post.
"This is a groundbreaking discovery that will reshape our understanding of early human presence in Southeast Asia," Phnombootra Chandrajoti, director general of the Fine Arts Department, said in a statement, according to Thai PBS World. "The careful burial and the associated artifacts provide invaluable insights into the rituals and daily lives of these ancient inhabitants."
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In addition to being the oldest human burial discovered to date in Thailand, Pangpond sheds light on human adaptation and survival in a region that is now largely submerged. Sea levels in the late Pleistocene were significantly lower than they are today, making bare a landmass called Sundaland that connected swaths of Southeast Asia during the last ice age, approximately 110,000 to 12,000 years ago.
Evidence shows Tham Din has a long history of human occupation, from the burial of Pangpond in the late Pleistocene to farming communities in the Holocene (11,700 years ago to the present day). The site shows the importance of continued excavation in this region for gaining a better understanding of early humans' dispersal, experts noted at the news conference.
The Thai Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation plans to protect the Tham Din archaeological site and eventually open it for tourism and educational purposes, Phnombootra said at the news conference.
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At the entrance to the cave, the skull of one of the early humans is slowly emerging from the rock sediment; it will be years before it is fully excavated. Tinshemet is exceptionally important to archeologists because the local climate preserved the bones, tools, and ornaments in good condition, unlike many other parts of the world where these items were lost to time, said Christian Tryon, a professor at the University of Connecticut and a research associate at the Human Origins Program at the Smithsonian Institution, who was not involved in the study. Advertisement The skeletons and objects were so well preserved because of ash from frequent fires, likely for rituals. This large amount of ash mixed with rainfall and Israel's acidic limestone, creating optimal conditions for preservation. One skeleton was in such good condition archeologists could see how the fingers were interwoven, hands clasped beneath the head. Tryon said the Tinshemet findings are bolstering earlier discoveries from two similar burial sites dating back to the same period in northern Israel — Skhul Cave and Qafzeh Cave. Skhul Cave was excavated almost 100 years ago, and Qafzeh Cave mostly around 50 years ago, when archeological practices were more haphazard. 'There were so many uncertainties with those sites, but this is confirming it's a pattern we know, and they're really nailing down the dates,' Tryon said. Tinshemet has helped archeologists conclude that burial practices started to become more widespread during this time, representing a shift in how early humans treated their dead. Some archeologists believe intentional burials started earlier. In South Africa, the Homo naledi species — an ancient cousin of Homo sapiens — In ancient times, Israel was a bridge between Neanderthals from Europe and Homo sapiens from Africa. 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