tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/sacred-rituals-25342/articlessacred rituals – The Conversation2021-12-15T14:33:08Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1726402021-12-15T14:33:08Z2021-12-15T14:33:08ZEmperor moths in the rock art of the Namib Desert shed new light on shamanic ritual<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437726/original/file-20211215-27-y1a1he.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Emperor moth cocoon rattles on the ankles of a ritual dancer, Kalahari, 1959.
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.jurgenschadeberg.com/galleries/TheSanPeople1959">Jurgen Schadeberg, courtesy Claudia Schadeberg via Rock Art Research Institute, Wits University</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Not every archaeological discovery is made by opening the tomb of a long dead king. Indeed, some important finds seem inconsequential at first. Such as ostrich feathers stained with ochre, a leather bag containing emperor moth cocoons and a strange vessel made from the cranium of an African wild dog <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0067270X.2018.1423757?journalCode=raza20">I unearthed</a> from a sterile layer at Falls Rock Shelter. The site lies just below the summit of the remote <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_690.html">Dâures</a> (or Brandberg) massif in the desert region of western Namibia.</p>
<p>Perplexed, I consigned these finds, first buried 4,500 years ago, to a box beneath my desk. They lay there for another 40 years until, in a flash of realisation, I saw that the emperor moth cocoons were pierced to be strung as rattles worn around the ankles of a shaman in ritual dance. </p>
<p>As set out in my new book <a href="https://witspress.co.za/catalogue/namib/">Namib – the archaeology of an African desert</a>, these delicate, brittle things were to provide a new understanding of shamanic ritual performance as depicted in the rock art in Namibia and elsewhere in southern Africa. </p>
<p>The role of the shaman as a ritual specialist and healer among southern African hunter-gatherer societies is known mainly from rock art depictions. Until now, no archaeological evidence of shamanic ritual paraphernalia had been discovered in southern Africa.</p>
<h2>A new era</h2>
<p>When I excavated the site, rock art studies had just entered an exciting new era. They left behind antiquarian musings for a theoretically rigorous approach. This was informed by modern anthropology and the great trove of late 1800s historical <a href="http://lloydbleekcollection.cs.uct.ac.za/">ethnographic material</a> on the inhabitants of the region compiled by the German linguist Wilhelm Bleek. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-bandit-slaves-and-the-rock-art-of-resistance-165107">South Africa's bandit slaves and the rock art of resistance</a>
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<p>Scholars were able to offer detailed and convincing explanations of mysterious rituals in which shamans drew upon supernatural sources of potency to heal, guide and protect their people. Paintings which had seemed inexplicable – some were dismissed as irrational fantasies – yielded their meaning. The spiritual world of southern African hunter-gatherer opened to enquiry. </p>
<p>Many puzzles remained, of course, but some rock paintings offered such depths of insight that one even became known as the <a href="https://africanrockart.britishmuseum.org/country/south-africa/gamepass/">Rosetta Stone of rock art </a> studies. The key to deciphering the rock art was the trance dance, a public ritual in which the shaman achieved a state of altered consciousness through rhythmic dancing, accompanied by clapping and singing.</p>
<h2>Evidence from the Namib Desert</h2>
<p>Southern African scholars argue that rock art and shamanic practice was not hidden: it was open for all to see. An egalitarian hunter-gatherer society had no place for specialist ritual practitioners. Other shamanic traditions are described by scholars of religion as essentially “polyphase”. This means having a phase of occultation, when the shaman is hidden or concealed, followed by his emergence or reappearance. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437727/original/file-20211215-21-n82qwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Drawing in red on a rock depicting a figure in a cloak, moving forward, arms extended. Around them cattle and people." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437727/original/file-20211215-21-n82qwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437727/original/file-20211215-21-n82qwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=699&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437727/original/file-20211215-21-n82qwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=699&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437727/original/file-20211215-21-n82qwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=699&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437727/original/file-20211215-21-n82qwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=878&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437727/original/file-20211215-21-n82qwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=878&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437727/original/file-20211215-21-n82qwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=878&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Shaman figure enveloped in an animal skin cloak, Snake Rock, Dâures massif.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Joris Komen</span></span>
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<p>Namib Desert rock art has many hidden sites, including paintings in dark crevices that cannot admit more than one person. These sites were part of a preparatory process which preceded a ritual performance. A striking feature of the rock art is its highly individualised figures, clearly shamans, overwhelmingly male and replete with specialised ritual equipment, including fly whisks, moth cocoon dancing rattles and long animal skin cloaks almost concealing the body. Significantly, these figures are not shown as participating in communal trance dance.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-archaeological-journal/article/abs/solitary-shaman-itinerant-healers-and-ritual-seclusion-in-the-namib-desert-during-the-second-millennium-ad/2383876C2BB3FF6241DE9D2C08006DA5">evidence suggests</a> that shamans in the Namib were individual specialists who travelled from place to place. They prepared themselves for ritual action in places of physical seclusion, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/abs/southern-san-and-the-trance-dance-a-pivotal-debate-in-the-interpretation-of-san-rock-paintings/CB3AF67952770777B47E1DB6B380BB35">rather than</a> during the large communal <a href="http://jurgenschadeberg.art.co.za/galleries/TheSanPeople1959/">trance dance events</a> that rock art scholars have insisted were the fundamental social mechanism for trance experience throughout this region.</p>
<p>Enigmatically, no trace of ritual paraphernalia had been found elsewhere in southern Africa. This has led scholars to suggest that there probably were no such items and that the rock art represents concepts such as power and control rather than actual items of material culture. </p>
<p>So, what of the emperor moth dancing rattles? Are they no more than an unusual and accidental find, adding a little texture to our understanding of the rock art? On the contrary, they show that occultation, as an element of performance not previously considered by scholars of the region, is of fundamental importance to an understanding of the art and ritual practice of southern African hunter-gatherers. The rattles expose a critical weakness in conventional explanations.</p>
<h2>The emperor moth dancing rattles</h2>
<p>Moth cocoons with small pebbles placed inside and strung about the lower limbs, issue a characteristic rustling sound, a rhythmic accompaniment to the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyLF3y1YJKA">ritual dance</a>. Their significance goes much further, for the cocoon represents the stage of occultation when the moth larva is hidden from view. The moth itself is the emergent stage represented by the dancing shaman: once hidden, now apparent. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437725/original/file-20211215-19-fbggwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A rock drawing of four moths, in red, spots on their extended wings." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437725/original/file-20211215-19-fbggwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437725/original/file-20211215-19-fbggwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437725/original/file-20211215-19-fbggwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437725/original/file-20211215-19-fbggwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437725/original/file-20211215-19-fbggwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437725/original/file-20211215-19-fbggwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437725/original/file-20211215-19-fbggwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Emergent emperor moths with extended wings, Naib ravine, Dâures massif.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rodney Lichtman</span></span>
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<p>Paintings of emperor moths are rare but those in the Dâures massif are shown with the wings extended as in the emergent stage. The painted moth represents the shaman with his knee-length animal hide cloak which resembles the wings. The cocoon rattle, the moth and the cloaked shaman thus combine the two essential stages of ritual performance: concealment and reappearance. </p>
<p>Cloaked figures are, of course, not confined to the rock art of the Namib Desert. The fact that they occur over much of southern Africa shows that they refer to a basic trope in this ritual tradition, overlooked until now.</p>
<p>The occultation and emergence of the emperor moth has further ramifications, too. It explains the importance of physical seclusion, such as in the deep rock crevices found in the desert, as sites of ritual preparation from which the shaman emerges to perform his work. It also explains why the cocoons and other ritual items were buried at the site; these are objects imbued with supernatural potency and therefore kept hidden, in a state of latency, lest their powers be misused. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437524/original/file-20211214-23-1rhx8jz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437524/original/file-20211214-23-1rhx8jz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437524/original/file-20211214-23-1rhx8jz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=985&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437524/original/file-20211214-23-1rhx8jz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=985&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437524/original/file-20211214-23-1rhx8jz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=985&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437524/original/file-20211214-23-1rhx8jz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1238&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437524/original/file-20211214-23-1rhx8jz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1238&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437524/original/file-20211214-23-1rhx8jz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1238&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>Now we see that these small items are more important than they might at first appear. Indeed, they provide the first integration of southern African rock art and hunter-gatherer ritual practice on the basis of firmly dated archaeological evidence. They alleviate a long-standing and counter-productive separation of rock art studies and the less glamorous field of “dirt” archaeology. </p>
<p>Perhaps the evidence from the Namib is not unique after all; there may well be cocoon rattles elsewhere, and dark crevices with hidden rock art still waiting to be found.</p>
<p><em>Namib – the archaeology of an African desert was <a href="https://www.namibiabooks.com/english-books/wildlife-environmentalists-naturalists/product/1478-namib-the-archeology-of-an-african-desert">originally published</a> by the University of Namibia Press. It is <a href="https://witspress.co.za/catalogue/namib/">available</a> from Wits University Press and is also available <a href="https://boydellandbrewer.com/9781847012883/namib/">internationally</a> from Boydell & Brewer.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172640/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Kinahan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The moth cocoons are the first archaeological evidence of shamanic ritual paraphernalia in southern Africa.John Kinahan, Honorary Research Fellow at the School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1541912021-03-31T15:18:36Z2021-03-31T15:18:36ZAncient eggshells and a hoard of crystals reveal early human innovation and ritual in the Kalahari<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381438/original/file-20210129-20464-1tiype6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=43%2C16%2C1554%2C1173&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A rockshelter in South Africa’s Kalahari documents the innovative behaviours of early humans who lived there 105,000 years ago. We report the new evidence today in <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03419-0">Nature</a>. </p>
<p>The rockshelter site is at Ga-Mohana Hill — a striking feature that stands proudly above an expansive savanna landscape.</p>
<p>Many residents of nearby towns consider Ga-Mohana a spiritual place, linked to stories of a great water snake. Some community members use the area for prayer and ritual. The hill is associated with mystery, fear and secrecy. </p>
<p>Now, our findings reveal how important this place was even 105,000 years ago, documenting a long history of its spiritual significance. Our research also challenges a dominant narrative that the Kalahari region is peripheral in debates on the origins of humans. </p>
<p>We know our species, <em>Homo sapiens</em>, first emerged in Africa. Evidence for the complex behaviours that define us has mostly been found at coastal sites in South Africa, supporting the idea that our origins were linked to coastal resources. </p>
<p>This view now requires revision. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381291/original/file-20210129-13-179wgn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381291/original/file-20210129-13-179wgn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=117&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381291/original/file-20210129-13-179wgn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=117&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381291/original/file-20210129-13-179wgn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=117&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381291/original/file-20210129-13-179wgn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=147&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381291/original/file-20210129-13-179wgn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=147&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381291/original/file-20210129-13-179wgn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=147&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The Ga-Mohana Hill North Rockshelter is located near the town of Kuruman in the Northern Cape province of South Africa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
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<h2>A crystal-clear finding</h2>
<p>We found 22 white and well-formed calcite crystals brought to the site 105,000 years ago. We determined this using a method called “optically stimulated luminescence”, which dates sediments the crystals were excavated from.</p>
<p>Our analysis indicates the crystals were not introduced into the deposits via natural processes, but rather represent a small cache of deliberately collected objects. </p>
<p>Crystals found across the planet and from several time periods have previously been linked to humans’ spiritual belief and ritual. This includes in southern Africa.</p>
<p>People at coastal sites similarity started to collect non-food seashells around the same time (but not earlier) — perhaps for similar reasons.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381292/original/file-20210129-15-drjo0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381292/original/file-20210129-15-drjo0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381292/original/file-20210129-15-drjo0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381292/original/file-20210129-15-drjo0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381292/original/file-20210129-15-drjo0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381292/original/file-20210129-15-drjo0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381292/original/file-20210129-15-drjo0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">One of 22 calcite crystals excavated from 105,000-year-old deposits.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
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<h2>Egg-citing technology</h2>
<p>Ostrich eggshells can make excellent water storage containers and were used as such in southern Africa during the Pleistocene and Holocene. At coastal sites, the earliest evidence for this technology dates back about 105,000 years. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/got-your-bag-the-critical-place-of-mobile-containers-in-human-evolution-142712">Got your bag? The critical place of mobile containers in human evolution</a>
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<p>At Ga-Mohana Hill, we found ostrich eggshell fragments that show all the signs of being human-collected, based on their strong association with artefacts (including animal bones that are cut-marked from being butchered), and evidence of having been burned. These fragments may be the remains of early containers. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381293/original/file-20210129-23-5yndli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381293/original/file-20210129-23-5yndli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=267&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381293/original/file-20210129-23-5yndli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=267&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381293/original/file-20210129-23-5yndli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=267&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381293/original/file-20210129-23-5yndli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381293/original/file-20210129-23-5yndli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381293/original/file-20210129-23-5yndli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">105,000-year-old ostrich eggshell fragments (left). Modern day example of ostrich eggshell canteen (right).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>This suggests early humans in the Kalahari were no less innovative than those living on the coast.</p>
<h2>A global effort</h2>
<p>International and interdisciplinary collaboration makes for the best research and our paper’s authorship includes researchers from eight institutions across Australia, South Africa, Canada, Austria and the UK.</p>
<p>Local South African collaborators had an especially crucial role. For example, Robyn Pickering, Jessica von der Meden and Wendy Khumalo at the University of Cape Town provided <a href="https://theconversation.com/ancient-southern-kalahari-was-more-important-to-human-evolution-than-previously-thought-155047">important palaeoenvironmental context</a> for the archaeology. </p>
<p>By dating tufa deposits around Ga-Mohana Hill, they showed water was more abundant 105,000 years ago when early humans were using the rockshelter.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381294/original/file-20210129-17-kjsnub.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381294/original/file-20210129-17-kjsnub.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381294/original/file-20210129-17-kjsnub.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381294/original/file-20210129-17-kjsnub.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381294/original/file-20210129-17-kjsnub.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381294/original/file-20210129-17-kjsnub.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381294/original/file-20210129-17-kjsnub.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The excavation team in Ga-Mohana Hill North Rockshelter during our 2017 excavation season.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Noga ya metsi</h2>
<p>Many who visit Ga-Mohana Hill today for ritual practice see it as part of a network of places linked to the Great Water Snake (Noga ya metsi), a capricious and shape-shifting being. Many of these spiritual places are also associated with water.</p>
<p>Places such as Ga-Mohana Hill and their associated stories remain some of the most enduring intangible cultural artefacts from the past, linking modern indigenous South Africans to earlier communities. </p>
<p>These enduring beliefs establish an important sense of orientation in a country that has been spatially disorientated by colonial disruption.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381295/original/file-20210129-17-4xr0cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381295/original/file-20210129-17-4xr0cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381295/original/file-20210129-17-4xr0cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381295/original/file-20210129-17-4xr0cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381295/original/file-20210129-17-4xr0cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381295/original/file-20210129-17-4xr0cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381295/original/file-20210129-17-4xr0cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An illustrative representation of the Great Water Snake by Sechaba Maape, Lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sechaba Maape</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Respectful research benefits all</h2>
<p>Those who visit the site today for ritual purposes rely on its association with fear to launch them into their desired ritual states. The site’s remoteness greatly contributes to this. </p>
<p>Recognising this significance, we’ve been adjusting our project methods to not undermine the practices held there. For example, following each excavation season, the areas we work from are completely back-filled and covered with sediment.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ancient-southern-kalahari-was-more-important-to-human-evolution-than-previously-thought-155047">Ancient southern Kalahari was more important to human evolution than previously thought</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In this way, we can carefully recover our sections later, but leave almost no visible trace of our work. We haven’t erected any signage or structures, or otherwise left any significant permanent modifications.</p>
<p>Community engagement continues as we consider ways to integrate the cultural and archaeological values of Ga-Mohana Hill. We are working to further develop an approach that has a positive impact on local communities, while also reflecting on what these communities teach us — particularly regarding respect and ritual. </p>
<p>From an archaeological perspective, we believe this approach will help ensure Ga-Mohana Hill can continue to offer new and valuable insights into the evolution of <em>Homo sapiens</em> in the Kalahari.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RKYo1XiyVWU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Jayne Wilkins, ARC DECRA Research Fellow at Griffith University, summarising the significance of the finds at Ga-Mohana Hill North Rockshelter.</span></figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154191/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Jayne Wilkins is a recipient an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Award (DE 190100160), a National Research Foundation (South Africa) Centre of Excellence (COE) in Palaeosciences Operational Grant, and a National Research Foundation (South Africa) Research Development Grant for Y-rated Researchers. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Sechaba Maape works for the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg South Africa. He is Also a member of the South African Council for the Architectural Professional as a Candidate architect CANT46409427. </span></em></p>Researchers unearthed the 105,000-year-old artefacts from a spiritual site in southern Africa. Although far from the coast, the area is associated with stories of a great water snake.Jayne Wilkins, ARC DECRA Research Fellow, Griffith UniversitySechaba Maape, Senior Lecturer, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1353462020-04-06T16:17:11Z2020-04-06T16:17:11ZChristians face an online Easter, preparing to share the gospel without sharing the virus<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325439/original/file-20200404-74235-71im9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=40%2C0%2C6649%2C4446&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">At St. Paul's Methodist Church in Brooklyn, N.Y., technician Joseph Stoute, left, prepares for a livestream broadcast with Rev. Janet Cox, a deacon, below right, March 22, 2020.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/places-worship-world-shut-coronavirus-200320135906275.html">global religious leaders</a> have been advised or compelled to shut the doors of their places of worship. In many places, public worship has come to a halt for the first time since <a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2020/03/influenza-pandemic-1918-churches/">the 1918 influenza pandemic</a> — although even then, <a href="https://www.historyextra.com/period/first-world-war/spanish-flu-britain-how-many-died-quarantine-corona-virus-deaths-pandemic/">some cities</a> insisted that churches needed to stay open.</p>
<p>While some Christian priests and pastors <a href="https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/12682/orthodox-virus-response-mixes-observance-with-defiance">have insisted on meeting</a> in <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-03-31/coronavirus-megachurches-meeting-pastors">their churches</a>, many churches and <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2020/march/bsf-coronavirus-covid-19-bible-study-fellowship-online-asia.html">other Christian groups</a> globally are looking to build <a href="https://religionandpolitics.org/2020/04/01/religious-leaders-work-to-respond-to-the-coronavirus-pandemic/">some form of</a> online presence to <a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/vatican/en/special/2020/settimanasanta2020.html">share the gospel</a> without <a href="https://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/covid-19">spreading the virus</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325440/original/file-20200404-74216-1qy31q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325440/original/file-20200404-74216-1qy31q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=675&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325440/original/file-20200404-74216-1qy31q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=675&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325440/original/file-20200404-74216-1qy31q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=675&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325440/original/file-20200404-74216-1qy31q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325440/original/file-20200404-74216-1qy31q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325440/original/file-20200404-74216-1qy31q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rev. Janet Cox, a deacon at St. Paul’s Methodist Church in Brooklyn, N.Y., delivers her sermon from an empty church to home-bound congregants by a livestream broadcast, March 22, 2020, in New York.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For Jews, Christians and Muslims, COVID-19 hit at an especially hard time. <a href="https://www.islamicfinder.org/special-islamic-days/ramadan-2020/">Ramadan</a>, <a href="https://www.chabad.org/holidays/passover/pesach_cdo/aid/671901/jewish/When-Is-Passover-in-2020-2021-2022-2023-2024-and-2025.htm">Passover</a> <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8836859/easter-2020-when-date-holiday-good-friday/">and Easter</a> are coming soon. For members of these communities, these are among the holiest seasons of the year.</p>
<p>Whether it <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/new-brunswick-mulism-community-covid-friday-prayer-1.5519510">will be Muslims</a> <a href="https://wearesocial.com/uk/blog/2019/06/ramadan-on-social-considerations-for-brands">breaking the Ramadan fast</a> over WhatsApp, Jewish families <a href="https://forward.com/culture/442256/passover-coronavirus-seder-haggadah-2020/">sharing a Seder on Skype</a> or Christians <a href="https://easternsynod.org/story/april-03-2020-pastoral-letter-entering-holy-week">typing “Jesus is risen indeed!”</a> in an Easter morning Zoom chat, the pandemic promises to make <a href="https://eu.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2020/03/27/religion-and-coronavirus-cincinnati-jewish-muslim-easter-passover-mass-catholic-faith-church/2898644001/">this religious season a first</a>. </p>
<h2>Virtual religion is ancient</h2>
<p>Virtual religion, however, is not new. It’s actually pre-internet, even pre-electricity. Medieval cloistered nuns and monks took <a href="http://www.bbk.ac.uk/pilgrimlibraries/2018/02/02/beebe/">pilgrimages by reading </a>travellers’ accounts and pacing the distance to Bethlehem or Rome in their cells. The differently abled have <a href="https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/when-church-members-become-homebound">long participated in their communities of worship</a> through radio, television, audio recordings and the telephone.</p>
<p>Among the first reports of Christians praying and worshipping online were some whose experiments were also driven by tragedy. The very oldest act of online Christian worship <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=jCElDwAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&dq=creating%20church%20online&pg=PA234#v=snippet&q=challenger&f=false">might well be a Presbyterian memorial to the Challenger space shuttle disaster in 1986</a>. Death and grief are powerful engines of religious change, and have often provoked the emergence of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/apr/17/untangling-web-aleks-krotoski-religion">new spiritual attitudes to media and technology</a>. </p>
<p>Since those early experiments, online church communities have flourished, including livestreams, chatrooms and virtual worlds. In 2004, <a href="https://www.methodist.org.uk/about-us/the-methodist-conference/methodist-council/">the Methodist Council in the U.K.</a> funded <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnUZ4ubcUIw">Church of Fools</a>, an avatars-in-church project that <a href="http://www.stpixels.com/">transitioned into St. Pixel’s</a> website, and then a same-named Facebook group and network. The same year <a href="https://i-church.org/gatehouse/">i-church</a> launched, as “an experimental online community” that is part of <a href="https://www.churchofengland.org/">the Church of England</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325453/original/file-20200405-74255-z2toxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325453/original/file-20200405-74255-z2toxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325453/original/file-20200405-74255-z2toxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325453/original/file-20200405-74255-z2toxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325453/original/file-20200405-74255-z2toxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325453/original/file-20200405-74255-z2toxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325453/original/file-20200405-74255-z2toxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lutheran Church of the Cross, Victoria, B.C., shows a sign reading ‘Thanks to frontline workers. Worship with us online,’ next to a rainbow showing it’s a ‘queer-affirming’ church.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Matthew Robert Anderson)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There’s a lot of talk about online religion being “<a href="https://churchofscotland.org.uk/news-and-events/news/2020/stay-connected-with-the-church-of-scotland">unprecedented</a>.” It’s not. What is unprecedented is religious groups all over the world all doing it at the same time.</p>
<p>Here are six proposals about <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfPQEQTBSAA">digital religion</a> from a theologian and a sociologist, <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Creating-Church-Online-Ritual-Community-and-New-Media/Hutchings/p/book/9780415536936">who has written a book about online churches</a>: </p>
<p><strong><em>1. People return to online spaces that give them experiences worth repeating.</em></strong></p>
<p>This might mean world-class preaching or music. But it’s more likely to mean community, friendship, a place to feel valued and the chance to get meaningfully involved. If an online church <a href="https://www.pastortheologians.com/articles/2020/3/25/the-thing-about-online-church">doesn’t find a way to help visitors feel they are part of a community, it won’t work</a>.</p>
<p><strong><em>2. Going online means new opportunities to be more accessible and open.</em></strong></p>
<p>In their now-shuttered physical places of gathering, traditional faith groups struggled with being welcoming and inclusive. Many of the pioneers of online faith communities <a href="http://anordinaryoffice.org.uk">challenged religious exclusivity</a>, providing a home for Christians who felt they did not belong elsewhere. </p>
<p>Online churches have attracted Christians with diverse theologies and sexualities, neuroatypical and disabled Christians and people who had rejected — or been rejected by — local churches. The COVID-19 crisis presents an unparalleled opportunity for all churches to be more accessible and open to groups historically excluded from their pews, while taking care to accommodate and consider people’s varied levels of digital literacy. </p>
<p><strong><em>3. Online diversity needs protection.</em></strong></p>
<p>Online communities and networks also make space for hate and harassment, <a href="https://religionnews.com/2020/03/30/zoombombing-epidemic-comes-for-houses-of-worship/">as some communities now rushing into livestreaming have begun to discover</a>. Secure software, responsible codes of conduct and watchful moderators are essential, even if finding them takes time. </p>
<p><strong><em>4. Reproducing “normal” worship isn’t a bad start.</em></strong></p>
<p>Despite the wide-open visual possibilities of virtual design before them, the first Christian congregations to form in virtual worlds still <a href="https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/11298/">created recognizable cathedrals and medieval-looking church spires</a>. </p>
<p>Especially in times of crisis we tend to prefer what feels familiar and authoritative. In the first weeks of the pandemic, it is no surprise that many religious groups chose to livestream bare-bones versions of their regular activities, featuring music, a speech and readings one could follow at home. </p>
<p><strong><em>5. “Normal” will change.</em></strong></p>
<p>Tim followed a small group of online churches for more than a decade. He learned that the most successful survive because they are willing to experiment. Each of those churches started with something familiar, then built the confidence to adapt to their new medium. </p>
<p>The term virtual sometimes implies “less-than” — but digital faith communities insist their online experiences are <a href="https://iamthetruevine.blogspot.com/2020/04/mediated-worship-and-spirituality-media.html">more than just a simulation</a> of what happens in a local church. New ideas, new worship practices and the new theological interpretations supporting them take time to mature.</p>
<p>For example, for Christians whose regular gatherings are centred around <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/christianity/christianity-general/communion">shared communion</a>, online-only gatherings have provoked <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2020/march-web-only/online-communion-can-still-be-sacramental.html">debates about its meaning</a>. For many, communion is a moment when bread and wine are consecrated and understood <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/christianity/roman-catholic-and-orthodox-churches-general-terms-and-concepts/sacraments">as a “sacrament,”</a> where Christ is present. Christians are now wrestling with <a href="https://wp.stolaf.edu/lutherancenter/2020/03/christ-is-really-present-virtually-a-proposal-for-virtual-communion/">what it means for that presence to be encountered online</a>. </p>
<p>Arguments about <a href="https://www.thetablet.co.uk/features/2/17770/reimagining-the-eucharist">the meaning of communion</a> are as old as Christianity itself, and discussions about digital communion <a href="https://j.hn/digital-communion-summary-of-theology-practices/">have been underway for decades</a>. Amid the new normal of the pandemic, at least one <a href="https://www.pcusa.org/news/2020/3/25/virtual-communion-church-leaders-say-it-can-be-don/">major Christian institution</a> has suggested that online communion might be acceptable after all. </p>
<p><strong><em>6. Experience is out there.</em></strong></p>
<p>In almost every religious community, there are those who have spent decades <a href="https://churchsupport.online">exploring the possibilities of virtual religion</a> but they will often not be found in denominational headquarters. Churches can find these experts, and learn from them. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325424/original/file-20200404-74202-1os8hrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325424/original/file-20200404-74202-1os8hrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325424/original/file-20200404-74202-1os8hrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325424/original/file-20200404-74202-1os8hrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325424/original/file-20200404-74202-1os8hrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325424/original/file-20200404-74202-1os8hrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325424/original/file-20200404-74202-1os8hrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rev. Christian Rauch, priest at St. Andreas Catholic Church in Lampertheim, Germany, stands in front of photos with parishioners on April 4, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Michael Probst</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Promise and peril</h2>
<p>A memorable image from the first week <a href="https://cruxnow.com/church-in-europe/2020/03/as-coronavirus-empties-churches-italian-priest-fills-pews-with-photos-of-parishioners/">of enforced distanced worship</a> was of a Catholic priest in Italy who printed colour photographs of his congregation and taped them to chairs in the church sanctuary. He stood, arms stretched wide in prayer, before all these faces. Around the world, other churches rushed to copy that extraordinary gesture.</p>
<p>As inspiring as this act was, it was immediately turned into a Twitter meme that picked up on petty politics in church communities to joke that someone “<a href="https://twitter.com/ChruchSecretary/status/1240651983255715842">complained another person’s photo was in their spot</a>.” The priest and his heckler show both the promise, and the peril, of the digital transformations. </p>
<p>Will digital worship become a chance <a href="https://stillvoicing.wordpress.com/2020/03/29/corona-and-communion/">to radically rethink</a> what it means to be both <a href="https://international.la-croix.com/news/praying-at-home-during-this-coronavirus-holy-week/12118">faithful and in community</a>? Or in the rush to the web will it simply be the same-old institutional thinking wrapped in a new format? Only time will tell. As the first online Easter for so many of the faithful quickly approaches, Christians are about to find out.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/135346/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Robert Anderson receives funding from the Concordia University Part-Time Faculty Association</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Hutchings received funding from the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council for the initial stage of his research into online churches (2007-2009). </span></em></p>Because of COVID-19, observing religious feasts online, such as Easter, is mainstream this year. A theologian and a sociologist offer six considerations for digital religion.Matthew Robert Anderson, Affiliate Professor, Theological Studies, Loyola College for Diversity & Sustainability; Honorary Research Associate, University of Nottingham UK, Concordia UniversityTim Hutchings, Assistant Professor in Religious Ethics, University of NottinghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1261862019-11-13T19:04:17Z2019-11-13T19:04:17ZHoly bin chickens: ancient Egyptians tamed wild ibis for sacrifice<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301456/original/file-20191113-77320-g9ghvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2%2C4%2C1495%2C723&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A scene from the Books of the Dead (based at the Egyptian Museum) shows the ibis-headed god Thoth recording the result of "the final judgement".</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wasef et al./PLOS ONE</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>These days, not many Aussies consider the ibis a particularly admirable creature. </p>
<p>But these birds, now colloquially referred to as “bin chickens” due to their notorious scavenging antics, have a grandiose and important place in history - <a href="https://oi-idb-static.uchicago.edu/multimedia/202/oimp35.pdf">ancient Egyptian history</a>, to be precise. </p>
<p>Using DNA from ibis mummies buried around 2,500 years ago, <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0223964">our research</a> published today explores this bird’s stature in ancient times, and how it was reared. </p>
<p>Our findings suggest ancient Egyptian priests practised short-term taming of the wild sacred ibis. This was likely done somewhere in natural ibis habitats, such as local lakes or wetlands. Also, it was probably done close to the Thoth temple at <a href="https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199571451.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199571451-e-14">Tuna el Gebel</a>, in a bid to meet an ibis demand fuelled by religious burial rituals. </p>
<h2>We’ve bin chicken out some DNA</h2>
<p>The preservation of bodies through mummification is a hallmark of ancient Egyptian civilisation. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, unfavourable environmental conditions such as high temperatures, humidity and alkaline conditions often result in scepticism about the authenticity of genetic results from ancient Egyptian human remains. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-the-rise-of-the-bin-chicken-a-totem-for-modern-australia-100673">Friday essay: the rise of the 'bin chicken', a totem for modern Australia</a>
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<p>However, animal mummies in the region are much more common. And the sacred ibis, (<em>Threskiornis aethiopicus</em>), is by far the most common bird mummy in ancient Egypt’s underground catacombs, with more than two million found. </p>
<p>The Egyptian sacred ibis looks very similar to the <a href="https://birdssa.asn.au/birddirectory/australian-white-ibis/">Australian white ibis</a> (<em>Threskiornis molucca</em>). We once thought they were both sacred ibises, but the two are actually sister species in the ibis family.</p>
<p>Our analysis of 14 sacred ibis mummies, which we collected ourselves from catacombs, helped reveal the role of this bird in ancient Egyptian society and religion.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301454/original/file-20191113-77310-1fzyt3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301454/original/file-20191113-77310-1fzyt3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301454/original/file-20191113-77310-1fzyt3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301454/original/file-20191113-77310-1fzyt3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301454/original/file-20191113-77310-1fzyt3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301454/original/file-20191113-77310-1fzyt3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301454/original/file-20191113-77310-1fzyt3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We collected sacred ibis mummy remains from the ibis catacomb in Saqqara.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We analysed and compared mitochondrial DNA, which is a section of DNA inherited from the mother and passed only through females. In doing so, we were able to compare the genetic diversity among the ancient ibis mummies to that of modern sacred ibis populations in Africa.</p>
<h2>All hail the Ibis</h2>
<p>Ancient Egyptians thought animals were incarnations of gods on Earth. They worshipped the sacred ibis as the god <a href="https://www.ancient.eu/Thoth/">Thoth</a>, which was responsible for maintaining the universe, judging the dead, and overseeing systems of magic, writing, and science. </p>
<p>It’s not surprising then, that professionally mummified Ibises were sacrificially offered to Thoth at his <a href="https://www.ancient.eu/article/1032/festivals-in-ancient-egypt/">annually celebrated festival</a>. In fact, offering sacred ibis mummies in ancient Egypt was a common practice between the 26th Dynasty (664-525 BC) and the early Roman Period (AD 250).</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/mummies-have-had-a-bad-wrap-its-time-for-a-reassessment-48729">Mummies have had a bad wrap – it's time for a reassessment</a>
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<p>For ancient Egyptian priests, the mummification of animals like ibises was not simply a ritual duty, but also a profitable business. Considering the number of ibis mummies found, one has to wonder how the priests secured supplies for this practice.</p>
<p>Some evidence from ancient Egyptian text <a href="https://janetthomas.wordpress.com/2013/03/06/the-role-of-the-sacred-ibis-in-ancient-egypt/">suggests</a> the birds may have been raised in dedicated large-scale farms over the long term - either next to or within temple enclosures. </p>
<p>In the writings of the priest and scribe Hor of Sebennytos, from the second century BC, he reported regularly feeding about 60,000 sacred ibises with “clover and bread”. This could be interpreted as domestication, or controlled breeding. </p>
<p>In 1825, French naturalist Georges Cuvier described the skeleton of an ibis mummy from Thebes that he’d unwrapped, saying: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>One sees that this mummy must have come from a domestic bird in the temples, because its left humerus was broken and reset. It is highly improbable that a wild bird with a wing broken would have been able to capture prey and escape predators. Hence it would have been unable to survive long enough to have healed.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Researchers today have also <a href="https://oi-idb-static.uchicago.edu/multimedia/202/oimp35.pdf">suggested</a> the seasonal taming of ancient wild ibises, wherein the birds were reared over a single generation by priests, in natural habitats close to temples. Moreover, it seems they were not domesticated, which would have required breeding in captivity over many generations. </p>
<p>The rearing is thought to have occurred at locations such as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faiyum_Oasis">Lake of the Pharaoh</a>, in which a natural basin was filled annually by flood waters from the Nile River. </p>
<p>These actions were almost certainly aimed at collecting a large number of adult birds, which were required for the Egyptian ritual of offering a mummified ibis to please Thoth.</p>
<h2>1.75 million birds, then suddenly none?</h2>
<p>Millions of sacred ibis mummies have been found stacked floor-to-ceiling along kilometres of dedicated catacombs in Egypt.</p>
<p>It’s believed that about 10,000 mummies were deposited annually in the <a href="https://cairo.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.5743/cairo/9789774248580.001.0001/upso-9789774248580-chapter-3">Sacred Animal Necropolis at Saqqara</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-recipe-for-mummy-preservation-existed-1-500-years-before-the-pharaohs-101526">A recipe for mummy preservation existed 1,500 years before the Pharaohs</a>
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<p>This amounts to an estimated 1.75 million birds deposited at this location alone. Another catacomb at Tuna el-Gebel contains approximately four million sacred ibis mummies, the largest known number of any mummified birds at a single Egyptian site. </p>
<p>But these birds disappeared from Egypt around 1850, centuries after the cessation of the mummification practice. How and why they disappeared remains a mystery.</p>
<p>Clearly, the people of today treat the ibis in a very different way to the ancient Egyptians. For the latter, they were sacred birds that held a special place in society.</p>
<p>Perhaps we should remember that and recognise, at least a little, their honoured status in the past.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126186/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sally Wasef receives funding from the Strategic Leverage Fund, EFRI, Griffith University. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Lambert receives funding from Human Frontier Science, the Australian Research Council and the Australia India Research Fund.</span></em></p>An estimated 1.75 million ibises were deposited at a single location in ancient Egypt. But the birds disappeared entirely from the region around 1850, and no one knows why.Sally Wasef, Postdoctoral research fellow, Griffith UniversityDavid Lambert, Professor of Evolutionary Biology, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/863702017-12-15T11:28:23Z2017-12-15T11:28:23ZAn archaeological dig in Israel provides clues to how feasting became an important ritual<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199083/original/file-20171213-27588-121rjcv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/beautiful-family-clinking-glasses-wine-juice-739881853?src=LVxtjsHv9WvkDt3DH5GhOA-1-4">LightField Studios/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>This holiday season millions of families will come together to celebrate their respective festivals and engage in myriad rituals. These may include exchanging gifts, singing songs, giving thanks, and most importantly, preparing and consuming the holiday feast.</p>
<p>Archaeological evidence shows that such communally shared meals have long been vital components of human rituals. My colleague <a href="http://archaeology.huji.ac.il/depart/prehistoric/leoreg/leoreg.asp">Leore Grosman</a> and I discovered the <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/107/35/15362.abstract?sid=46eefb6c-5163-4b34-a748-228c9660abc5">earliest evidence of a ritual feast</a> at a 12,000-year-old archaeological site in northern Israel and learned how feasts came to be integral components of modern-day ritual practice. </p>
<h2>First, what are rituals?</h2>
<p>Rituals involve meaningful, often repeated actions. In modern-day practices they are expressed through rites such as the hooding of a doctoral student, birthdays, weddings or even sipping wine at Holy Communion or lighting Hanukkah candles. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199089/original/file-20171213-27597-1763rgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199089/original/file-20171213-27597-1763rgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199089/original/file-20171213-27597-1763rgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199089/original/file-20171213-27597-1763rgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199089/original/file-20171213-27597-1763rgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199089/original/file-20171213-27597-1763rgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199089/original/file-20171213-27597-1763rgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pompeii family feast painting, Naples.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3APompeii_family_feast_painting_Naples.jpg">Unknown painter before 79 AD, via Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ritual practice may have emerged along with other early modern human behaviors more than 100,000 years ago. However, proving this with material evidence is a challenge. For example, researchers have found that both Neanderthals and early modern humans <a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/12/131216-la-chapelle-neanderthal-burials-graves/">buried their dead</a>, but scholars weren’t certain whether this was for spiritual or symbolic reasons and not for something more mundane like maintaining site hygiene. Likewise, the discovery of 100,000-year-old symbolic artifacts like <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=100362">pierced shell ornaments</a> and <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/334/6053/219">decorated chunks of red ochre</a> in caves in South Africa, was not sufficient to prove that they were part of any ritual activities. </p>
<p>It was only when archaeologists found these artifacts, placed in <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=zUbK0CRChHoC&dq=paul+pettit+upper+burial&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y">graves going back 40,000-20,000 years</a>, that it was confirmed they were part of ritual practice. </p>
<h2>The first feasts</h2>
<p>We had a similar experience during our research. When Leore Grosman and I first embarked on the excavations at Hilazon Tachtit in the late 1990s, we were only hoping to document the activities of the last hunter-gatherers in Israel, at what appeared to be a small campsite. It was only over several seasons of excavation that it slowly became clear to us that this was not a site where people had lived. Rather it was a site for rituals.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199249/original/file-20171214-27562-ax6zi5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199249/original/file-20171214-27562-ax6zi5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199249/original/file-20171214-27562-ax6zi5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199249/original/file-20171214-27562-ax6zi5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199249/original/file-20171214-27562-ax6zi5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1126&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199249/original/file-20171214-27562-ax6zi5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1126&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199249/original/file-20171214-27562-ax6zi5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1126&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hilazon Tachtit cave interior.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Naftali Hilger</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>No houses, fireplaces or cooking areas were recovered. Instead the cave yielded the skeletal remains of at least 28 individuals interred in three pits and two small structures. </p>
<p>One of these structures contained the complete skeleton of an older woman, who we <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2008/11/ancient-grave-may-have-belonged-shaman">interpreted as a shaman</a> based on her special treatment at death. Her grave stood apart due to its fine construction – the walls were plastered with clay and inset with flat stone slabs. Even more remarkable was the eclectic array of animal body parts buried alongside of her. The pelvis of a leopard, the wing tip of an eagle, the skulls of two martens and many other unusual body parts surrounded her skeleton. </p>
<p>The butchered remnants of more than 90 tortoises buried in the grave and the leftovers of at least three wild cattle deposited in a second adjacent depression excavated in the cave floor represent the remains of a funeral feast. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199251/original/file-20171214-27555-167g7d2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199251/original/file-20171214-27555-167g7d2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199251/original/file-20171214-27555-167g7d2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199251/original/file-20171214-27555-167g7d2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199251/original/file-20171214-27555-167g7d2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199251/original/file-20171214-27555-167g7d2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199251/original/file-20171214-27555-167g7d2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hilazon Tachtit cave.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Naftali Hilger</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The outstanding preservation of the grave enabled us to detect multiple phases of a <a href="https://www.livescience.com/55295-female-shaman-burial-reconstructed.html">ritual performance</a> that included the consumption of the feast, the burial of the woman, and the filling of the grave in several stages, including the intentional deposition of garbage from the feast. </p>
<h2>Feasting at the beginning of agriculture</h2>
<p>Archaeologists have found other sites that show evidence of ritual feasting. Many of these date to the time when humans were beginning to farm. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199085/original/file-20171213-27555-1txywo0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199085/original/file-20171213-27555-1txywo0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199085/original/file-20171213-27555-1txywo0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199085/original/file-20171213-27555-1txywo0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199085/original/file-20171213-27555-1txywo0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199085/original/file-20171213-27555-1txywo0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199085/original/file-20171213-27555-1txywo0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Site of Göbekli Tepe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AG%C3%B6bekli_Tepe%2C_Urfa.jpg">Teomancimit (Own work) , via Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One of the most striking is the site of <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/gobekli-tepe-the-worlds-first-temple-83613665/">Göbekli Tepe</a> in southeastern Turkey, dating slightly later than Hilazon Tachtit. It includes multiple large structures adorned with benches and giant stone slab carved with exquisite animal depictions in relief dating to <a href="https://tepetelegrams.wordpress.com/2016/06/22/how-old-ist-it-dating-gobekli-tepe/">11-12,000 years ago</a>. Perhaps, these were very early communal buildings. The archaeologists who excavated Göbekli Tepe argue that <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0003598X00047840">massive quantities of animal bones</a> associated with the structures represent the remains of feasts. </p>
<p>Twelve thousand years ago humans were still hunter-gatherers, subsisting entirely on wild foods. Nevertheless, these people differed from those who went before – they were sitting on the brink of the transition to agriculture, one of the most significant economic, social and ideological transformations in human history. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379116301780">Sickle blades</a> and grinding stones used to harvest and process cereal grains are found at Hilazon Tachtit and other contemporary archaeological sites. These findings indicate that these ritual feasts started around the same time that people adopted agriculture. When people began to rely more heavily on wild cereals like wheat and barley, they became increasingly tethered to landscapes that were ever more crowded and began to <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/03/when-did-humans-settle-down-house-mouse-may-have-answer">settle into more permanent communities</a>. In other words, feasting became a part of their life, once they moved away from nomadic life.</p>
<h2>Rituals that bind</h2>
<p>These feasts had an important role to play. Adapting to village life after hundreds of millennia on the move was no simple act. Research on modern hunter-gatherer societies shows that <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1525/aa.1989.91.3.02a00110/abstract">closer contact between neighbors dramatically increased social tensions.</a> New solutions to avoid and repair conflict were critical. </p>
<p>The simultaneous appearance of feasting, communal structures and specialized ritual sites suggest that humans were seeking to solve this problem by engaging the community in ritual practice. </p>
<p>One of the <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278416596900124">central functions of ritual in these communities</a> was to provide a kind of social glue that bound community members by promoting social cohesion and solidarity. Feasts generate loyalty and commitment to the community’s success. Sharing food is intimate and <a href="https://www.npr.org/2017/02/02/512998465/why-eating-the-same-food-increases-peoples-trust-and-cooperation">it builds trust</a>.</p>
<p>Communal rituals would have provided a shared sense of identity at a time when social circles were increasing in scale and permanence. They reinforced new ideologies that emerged out of a dramatic reorganization of economic and social life. </p>
<h2>Role of feasts today</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199090/original/file-20171213-27597-tk1qmv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199090/original/file-20171213-27597-tk1qmv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199090/original/file-20171213-27597-tk1qmv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199090/original/file-20171213-27597-tk1qmv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199090/original/file-20171213-27597-tk1qmv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199090/original/file-20171213-27597-tk1qmv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199090/original/file-20171213-27597-tk1qmv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">What’s the role of feasting today?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/happy-thanksgiving-day-autumn-feast-family-737439070?src=cAJNHiZ6AxqK1BctdugBjg-1-44">Yuganov Konstantin</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Feasting plays the same essential role today. Like the earliest feasts, our holiday celebrations are replete with actions that are repeated year after year. </p>
<p>The holiday feast today builds family traditions. By cooking and sharing food together, telling stories of past holidays and exchanging intergenerational wisdom, holiday rituals bond extended families and give them a shared identity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86370/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Natalie Munro receives funding from the National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>Ritual feasting emerged around the time humans were beginning to farm. It came to play an important role in societal bonding, much as it does today.Natalie Munro, Professor, University of ConnecticutLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/624422016-07-27T07:56:04Z2016-07-27T07:56:04ZHow tiny black spots shed light on part of the Homo naledi mystery<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/130564/original/image-20160714-23342-1btij8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A replica of a Homo naledi skull.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">GCIS/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many questions have been thrown up by the discovery in South Africa of a previously unidentified human relative, Homo naledi. Perhaps the one that’s grabbed people’s attention the most is how Homo naledi’s bones ended up in the Dinaledi Chamber in the Rising Star cave complex in the Cradle of Humankind near Johannesburg.</p>
<p>The team which found and classified the remains has <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/09/150915-humans-death-burial-anthropology-Homo-naledi/">suggested</a> that the Homo naledi group deliberately deposited carcasses in complete darkness at the very back of the cave system. According to this claim, Homo naledi adopted a relatively “modern” or ritualistic form of behaviour even though the species had smaller brains than today’s humans.</p>
<p>To date, no opening has been found within the Dinaledi Chamber apart from the existing entrance. But might there have been an additional entrance at some time in the past? New research I have conducted and <a href="http://sajs.co.za/possibility-lichen-growth-bones-homo-naledi-were-they-exposed-light/j-francis-thackeray">published in the South African Journal of Science</a> centred on mysterious black spots found on Homo naledi bones from the cave. My findings suggest that the answer to this question may have been “yes” – there very well may have been an entrance.</p>
<p>I strongly believe that there was possibly a temporary entrance into the chamber, in addition to the one used by explorers today. This temporary entrance may been covered up by a rock fall that also trapped the individuals whose bones were found some time later. </p>
<p>Why do I believe that in fact there was this additional opening to the cave? Because those mysterious black spots are manganese dioxide and were probably deposited on the bones by lichen. And lichen need light to grow – so there must have been some light penetrating into the Dinaledi chamber. My scenario is that the Homo naledi family group was trapped in the Dinaledi Chamber after a rockfall – but that there was still, for a time, enough light to penetrate the chamber. This allowed lichen to grow on many of the bones of Homo naledi. </p>
<p>Then, with subsequent rockfalls in a phreatic maze, the Dinaledi Chamber was sealed except for the difficult route whereby explorers can enter the cave at the present time. </p>
<h2>Evidence from elsewhere</h2>
<p>The team which discovered the remains <a href="https://elifesciences.org/content/4/e09561">noted</a> that “some bones and teeth are dotted with black iron-manganese oxy-hydroxide deposits and coatings”.</p>
<p>I examined the remains in question and found that the spots were analogous to the kind of associated with modern lichen which are “symbionts”, including fungi – that disperse in spots – and algae, which require at least some light to grow.</p>
<p>My colleagues and I have previously <a href="http://reference.sabinet.co.za/webx/access/electronic_journals/sajsci/sajsci_v101_n1_a4.pdf">examined</a> instances of lichen in the Cradle of Humankind area. Lichen can grow on certain substrates, including bone or rock, with a dotted or spotted distribution. The spotted distribution of lichen is sometimes associated with dotted distributions of manganese oxy-hydroxide on the same surfaces. </p>
<p>The source of the manganese in the Cradle of Humankind region would include dolomite and <a href="http://geology.com/rocks/chert.shtml">chert</a>. These are rock materials that date back two billion years ago, related to a shallow saline sea that existed at that time.</p>
<p>In the Cradle of Humankind lichen has proved to grow not only on chert, but also on dolomite. It can also grow on bone surfaces.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/130933/original/image-20160718-2115-fb2pyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/130933/original/image-20160718-2115-fb2pyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/130933/original/image-20160718-2115-fb2pyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130933/original/image-20160718-2115-fb2pyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130933/original/image-20160718-2115-fb2pyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130933/original/image-20160718-2115-fb2pyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130933/original/image-20160718-2115-fb2pyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130933/original/image-20160718-2115-fb2pyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The black markings on these Homo naledi bones are manganese dioxide.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Hominid cranial specimens from the nearby Sterkfontein caves have small dots or spots of manganese oxyhydroxide on surfaces of bone, even within the inner cranial wall of these skulls. It seems likely that these dots or spots of manganese oxyhydroxide may have been areas where lichens were able to grow – in a partially sunlit micro-environment – for a relatively short period of time. Then sand would have covered the crania, blocking out the light and halting the lichen’s ability to keep growing. </p>
<p>So what does such evidence in the Cradle of Humankind tell us about Homo naledi’s mysterious black spots?</p>
<h2>Secrets of the caves</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/130570/original/image-20160714-23336-2vu1nx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/130570/original/image-20160714-23336-2vu1nx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130570/original/image-20160714-23336-2vu1nx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130570/original/image-20160714-23336-2vu1nx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130570/original/image-20160714-23336-2vu1nx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130570/original/image-20160714-23336-2vu1nx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130570/original/image-20160714-23336-2vu1nx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Sterkfontein Caves in the Cradle of Humankind.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">MaropengSA/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The circumstances in the Wonder Cave – which is within 10kms of the Rising Star cave complex – offer some important clues to what might have happened to create spots on the Homo naledi remains.</p>
<p>When one walks from the entrance of the cavern into the darkness of the dolomitic solution cavity, the following becomes obvious: </p>
<p>Where there is intense light and heat on dry exposed surfaces outside the cave, there is little or no lichen growth at all. But, in the moister and slightly darker regions of the cave, there is an area where light and moisture appear to be optimal for the present lichen colonists.</p>
<p>Then, in the darkness at the back of the cave where very little light penetrates, there’s a decrease in the mean size of lichens, until there is no lichen growth at all – although there may be some moisture because of water dripping through the phreatic maze of the dolomitic cave system.</p>
<p>All of this suggests that, for the Homo naledi bones in the Rising Star cave to have become spotted with manganese dioxide, they had to have some exposure to light. That could only have happened if light got into the cave. And this was only possible if there was some sort of entrance that has, in the distant past, been covered over. If correct, this would contradict the original team’s proposal that, in prehistory, the Dinaledi Chamber could only be accessed by means of very narrow and circuitous passages, in complete darkness.</p>
<h2>Time to reassess?</h2>
<p>Based on my findings I believe that there was, at some time, a second entrance to the Dinaledi Chamber. This allowed at least some light to penetrate into the cave and to facilitate the growth of lichen and the subsequent deposition of manganese oxyhydroxide on the Homo naledi bones. </p>
<p>I’d further hypothesise that such an entrance, if it existed at all, was temporary. A rockfall in the maze cave system may have subsequently sealed the entrance at some stage in the dolomitic solution cavity. The darkness that settled over the cave would have terminated any lichen growth.</p>
<p>If there was more than one entrance into the Dinaledi Chamber, as suggested by my work and <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047248416000282">research</a> conducted by Dr Aurore Val, the “intentional depositional model” will need to be reassessed. It would seem unlikely that the Homo naledi group deliberately deposited or buried its dead.</p>
<p><em>Author’s note: I would like to acknowledge the support of the National Research Foundation, the Andrew Mellon Foundation, and the Centre of Excellence for the Palaeosciences.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/62442/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Francis Thackeray receives funding from the Mellon Foundation and the National Research Foundation</span></em></p>New evidence suggests that Homo naledi didn’t deliberately deposit their dead in a hidden chamber.Francis Thackeray, Phillip Tobias Chair in Palaeoanthropology, Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/555122016-02-29T09:59:16Z2016-02-29T09:59:16ZMysterious new behaviour found in our closest living relatives<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113193/original/image-20160229-4076-1t1e2ow.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A world first.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mark Linfield/Walt Disney Pictures</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>I trampled clumsily through the dense undergrowth, attempting in vain to go a full five minutes without getting snarled in the thorns that threatened my every move. It was my first field mission in the savannahs of the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13442051">Republic of Guinea</a>. The aim was to record and understand a group of wild chimpanzees who had never been studied before. These chimps are not lucky enough to enjoy the comforts of a protected area, but instead carve out their existence in the patches of forests between farms and villages.</p>
<p>We paused at a clearing in the bush. I let out a sigh of relief that no thorns appeared to be within reach, but why had we stopped? I made my way to the front of the group to ask the chief of the village and our legendary guide, Mamadou Alioh Bah. He told me he had found something interesting – some innocuous markings on a tree trunk. Something that most of us wouldn’t have even noticed in the complex and messy environment of a savannah had stopped him in his tracks. Some in our group of six suggested that wild pigs had made these marks, while scratching up against the tree trunk, others suggested it was teenagers messing around. </p>
<p>But Alioh had a hunch – and when a man that can find a single fallen chimp hair on the forest floor and can spot chimps kilometres away with his naked eye better than you can (with expensive binoculars) as a hunch, you listen to that hunch. We set up a camera trap in the hope that whatever made these marks would come back and do it again, but this time we would catch it all on film.</p>
<h2>A world first</h2>
<p>Camera traps automatically start recording when any movement occurs in front of them. For this reason they are an ideal tool for recording wildlife doing its own thing without any disturbance. I made notes to return to the same spot in two weeks (as that’s roughly how long the batteries last) and we moved on, back into the wilderness.</p>
<p>Whenever you return to a camera trap there is always a sense of excitement in the air of the mysteries that it could hold – despite the fact that most of our videos consisted of branches swaying in strong winds or wandering farmers’ cows enthusiastically licking the camera lens, there is an uncontrollable anticipation that maybe something amazing has been captured.</p>
<p>What we saw on this camera was exhilarating – a large male chimp approaches our mystery tree and pauses for a second. He then quickly glances around, grabs a huge rock and flings it full force at the tree trunk.</p>
<figure>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/157106967" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Selection of stone throwing behaviour, from carefully placing stones inside hollow trunks to full-on hurling. Video credit: Kühl et al (2016)</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Nothing like this had been seen before and it gave me goose bumps. <a href="http://www.janegoodall.org.uk">Jane Goodall</a> first discovered wild chimps using tools in the 1960s. Chimps use twigs, leaves, sticks and some groups <a href="http://news.discovery.com/animals/female-chimps-seen-making-wielding-spears-150414.htm">even use spears</a> in order to get food. Stones have also been used by chimps to crack open nuts and cut open large fruit. Occasionally, chimps throw rocks in displays of strength to establish their position in a community. </p>
<p>But what we discovered during <a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/srep22219">our now-published study</a> wasn’t a random, one-off event, it was a repeated activity with no clear link to gaining food or status – it could be a ritual. We searched the area and found many more sites where trees had similar markings and in many places piles of rocks had accumulated inside hollow tree trunks – reminiscent of the piles of rocks archaeologists have uncovered in human history. </p>
<p>Videos poured in. Other groups working in <a href="http://panafrican.eva.mpg.de">our project</a> began searching for trees with tell-tale markings. We found the same mysterious behaviour in small pockets of Guinea Bissau, Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire but nothing east of this, despite searching across the entire chimp range from the western coasts of Guinea all the way to Tanzania.</p>
<h2>Why are chimps throwing stones at trees?</h2>
<p>I spent many months in the field, along with many other researchers, trying to figure out what these chimps are up to. So far we have two main theories.
The behaviour could be part of a male display, where the loud bang made when a rock hits a hollow tree adds to the impressive nature of a display. This could be especially likely in areas where there are not many trees with large roots that chimps would normally drum on with their powerful hands and feet. If some trees produce an impressive bang, this could accompany or replace feet drumming in a display and trees with particularly good acoustics could become popular spots for revisits.</p>
<p>On the other hand, it could be more symbolic than that – and more reminiscent of our own past. Marking pathways and territories with signposts such as piles of rocks is an important step in human history. Figuring out where chimps’ territories are in relation to rock throwing sites could give us insights into whether this is the case here. </p>
<p>Even more intriguing than this, maybe we found the first evidence of chimpanzees creating a kind of shrine that could indicate sacred trees. Indigenous West African people have stone collections at <a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9008455&fileId=S0361541300002916">“sacred” trees</a> and such man-made stone collections are <a href="http://www.mountaineersbooks.org/Cairns-P990.aspx">commonly observed across the world</a> and look eerily similar to what we have discovered here.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113194/original/image-20160229-4087-1fagi2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113194/original/image-20160229-4087-1fagi2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113194/original/image-20160229-4087-1fagi2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113194/original/image-20160229-4087-1fagi2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113194/original/image-20160229-4087-1fagi2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113194/original/image-20160229-4087-1fagi2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113194/original/image-20160229-4087-1fagi2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Stone throwing - in action and on site. Top line: Adult male tossing, hurling and banging a stone. Bottom line: Stones accumulated in a hollow tree; typical stone throwing site; and stones in between large roots.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kühl et al (2016)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A vanishing world</h2>
<p>To unravel the mysteries of our closest living relatives, we must make space for them in the wild. In the Ivory Coast alone, chimpanzee populations have decreased by more than <a href="https://secure.jbs.elsevierhealth.com/action/getSharedSiteSession?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cell.com%2Fcurrent-biology%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982208010555%3F_returnURL%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%252Fretrieve%252Fpii%252FS0960982208010555%253Fshowall%253Dtrue&rc=0&code=cell-site">90% in the past 17 years</a>. </p>
<p>A devastating combination of increasing human numbers, habitat destruction, poaching and infectious disease severely endangers chimpanzees. Leading scientists warn us that, if nothing changes, chimps and other great apes will have only <a href="http://www.livescience.com/6706-jane-goodall-urgent-action-needed-save-chimps.html">30 years left in the wild</a>. In the unprotected forests of Guinea, where we first discovered this enigmatic behaviour, rapid deforestation is rendering the area close to uninhabitable for the chimps that once lived and thrived there. Allowing chimpanzees in the wild to continue spiralling towards extinction will not only be a critical loss to biodiversity, but a tragic loss to our own heritage, too.</p>
<p>You can support chimps with your time, by instantly becoming a citizen scientist and spying on them at <a href="http://www.chimpandsee.org">www.chimpandsee.org</a>, and with your wallet by donating to the <a href="http://www.wildchimps.org/about-us/news.html">Wild Chimpanzee Foundation</a>. Who knows what we might find next that could forever change our understanding of our closest relatives.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/55512/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Kehoe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Groundbreaking video footage could change the way we look at chimpanzees.Laura Kehoe, Researcher in Wildlife Conservation and Land Use, Humboldt University of BerlinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.