3 days ago
A Fallen Tree Exposed 7 Ancient Urns—With Human Bones Inside
Here's what you'll learn when you read this story:
Archaeologists searching under a toppled tree in the Amazon discovered seven funerary urns buried beneath the roots.
Of the seven urns—two larger than the others—skeletal remains included that of humans and animals.
The pre-Hispanic find also included an unknown variety of ceramic.
If a tree falls in the Amazon, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? While you were busy trying to answer that question, local villagers heard the tree fall and, upon checking out the commotion, found a collection of mysterious urns that had been buried underneath the toppled tree.
The urns pose plenty of still-unanswered questions about the people that once lived there and made the pots. Shortly after locals found the cache of mysterious containers, a team of archaeologists came to investigate and, upon cracking open the urns, discovered the remains of humans and animals, including turtles.
The discovery, made in a remote village in Brazil's Amazon Rainforest interior, included seven urns, two of which were larger than the rest. Archaeologists from the Mamirauá Institute said in a translated statement the funerary urns contained a mix of pre-Hispanic human and animal skeletons, in addition to being made with a rare ceramic material.
The human remains were intermingled with that of fish and turtles, likely part of a ritual burial practice. Coupled with the unusual ceramic techniques, archaeologist Geórgea Layla Holanda said the pots and remains could be from an unknown multicultural society that can reveal new clues about the way of life in the Médio Solimões region.
The large urns were without lids, suggesting they were once sealed with organic material that has since decomposed. Located only 16 inches deep, Holanda said they were likely once buried 'beneath old houses.'
The ceramics were covered in green clay, a rare practice seen at a few other locations in the heavily forested Médio Solimões region. Along with the green clay, the team found red stripes added to the pots. Still, according to the release, there's no direct link between these pots and known ceramic traditions.
Discovered at the Cochila Lake archaeological site, known for artificial islands constructed an unknown number of centuries ago, the area is a hotbed for ancient ingenuity. 'These artificial islands are raised archaeological structures on high floodplains, with material removed from other areas and mixed with ceramic fragments, intentionally positioned to give support,' archaeologist Márcio Amaral said in a statement. 'It's a very sophisticated indigenous engineering technique, which demonstrated significant land management and population density in the past.'
Villagers from São Lázaro do Arumandubinha and other communities worked with the archaeologists to excavate the urns and move them on canoes to a laboratory where researchers hope to gain a deeper understanding of their origins.
'Some community members saw the pots when a tree fell and left the roots exposed, but they didn't give it much importance,' Walfredo Cerqueira, a liaison with the villagers, said in a statement, adding that when he saw the photos, he started the process of getting in touch with archaeologists. 'From there, we started planning the trip to the site.'
To excavate the urns, archaeologists had to construct wooden structures just to get to the site in the river-heavy location. Once excavated, it took the urns up to 12 hours to travel via river canoe—and sometimes through tight streams and flooded areas—to the laboratory. 'The community showed a care and skill that often surpass the urban shippers,' Holanda said. 'Thanks to this meticulous work, the urns arrived intact.'
The urns were wrapped in plastic film and bubble wrap before being placed in wooden supports. Ropes helped enable the lifting of the urns into the canoes.
Finding a burial site questions the traditional view that the floodplain areas were only places of passage or sporadic occupation, instead indicating a continuous presence of people highly adapted to the environment.
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