Research led by Sheila Coulson of the University of Oslo uncovered a roughly 6-metre quartzite snake-shaped rock and about 13,000 stone artifacts at Python Cave in Botswana’s Tsodilo Hills. Some were spearheads made from nonlocal stone, and 22 red-stone pieces were burnt or deliberately damaged. The artifacts are commonly dated to about 70,000 years ago. The video presents Coulson’s interpretation that the site was used for a python-related ritual. 🐍⛰️
Python Cave: 70,000-Year-Old Artifacts and a Claimed Snake Ritual
BotswanaExcavationNew Research
Site mentioned
Key facts
- Sheila Coulson of the University of Oslo led excavations at Python Cave in the Tsodilo Hills, Botswana.
- About 13,000 stone artifacts, including some spearheads, were recovered from a trench about half a metre below the cave floor; they were not 13,000 spearheads.
- The site contained a roughly 6-metre quartzite formation resembling a python, covered with deliberate notches.
- Comparative dating placed the artifacts at approximately 77,000 years old, commonly summarized as about 70,000 years ago; this does not directly date the snake-shaped rock.
- Twenty-two red-stone artifacts showed deliberate burning or damage. Coulson interpreted the finds as evidence of a python-related ritual.
Sources
Scientists find first known human ritual - NBC Newsnbcnews.com
It is as tall as a man and 20 feet (6 meters) long. "You could see the mouth and eyes of the snake. It looked like a real python," said Sheila ...
Python may have been the first sacred cow 70,000 years ago - The Timesthetimes.com
The researchers believe that they were an offering to the snake. “It was a ritual destruction of artefacts,” Dr Coulson said. “There was no sign ...
Python may have been the first sacred idol 70000 years agohistorynewsnetwork.org
... snake speaking. “The shaman would have been able to control everything. It was perfect,” Sheila Coulson, from the University of Oslo, said. Read entire ...
World's oldest ritual discovered. Worshipped the python 70000 ... - UiOuio.no
At night, the firelight gave one the feeling that the snake was actually moving.” said Sheila Coulson to the University of Oslo's research ...
World's oldest ritual discovered - EurekAlert!eurekalert.org
It looked like a real python. The play of sunlight over the indentations gave them the appearance of snake skin. At night, the firelight gave ...
Tsodilo Hills - Dean Liprinisacredsitesfoundation.co.za
From Sheila Coulson of the University of Oslo – Archaeology research: “A startling discovery of 70,000-year-old artifacts and a python's head carved of stone ...
Tsodiloen.wikipedia.org
Sheila Coulson of the University of Oslo stated that 70,000-year-old artifacts and a rock resembling a python's head representing the first known human rituals ...
Python Ritual — John Hoeyjohnstephenhoey.com
Python Cave. The brilliant Sheila Coulson's find in 2006 is our earliest evidence of complex social ritual. From around 70,000 BCE it's still in good shape.
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