12,000-year-old shaman woman's grave with 50+ tortoise shells at Hilazon Tachtit

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Key facts

• The burial in Structure A is the oldest at the cave site and the most elaborate
• The grave was an oval basin intentionally cut into the rock, sealed by a triangular limestone slab measuring 40 cm by 75 cm
• The grave walls were plastered with mud, with small limestone slabs pressed into them and limestone slabs lining the floor
• The deceased was an elderly woman, approximately 45 years old and around 1.5 m (5 ft) tall, with fusion of the coccyx and sacrum and deformations of the pelvis, lumbar, and sacral vertebrae, suggesting she walked with a limp
• She was placed on her side with her spinal column, pelvis, and right leg against the southern wall, legs spread apart and folded inward at the knee
• More than 10 large stones were placed directly on her head, pelvis, and arms
• Grave goods included a fragment of a worn basalt bowl, a complete articulated human foot, a pointed bone tool, a round pebble with two napping scars, more than 50 complete tortoise shells, skulls of two stone martens, a golden eagle wing tip, an aurochs tail, a leopard pelvis, wild boar forearms, and a complete male gazelle horn core
• Tortoise shells had spiral fractures consistent with human breakage using a hammerstone while the shell was fresh, suggesting the tortoises were eaten at a feast associated with the internment
• Some tortoise shells were placed under the woman's head and hips, while most were placed on top and around her

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