Sheila Coulson (University of Oslo) excavated Python Cave at Tsodilo Hills, Botswana. She found a 6-meter snake-shaped rock with hundreds of man-made notches, plus 13,000 spearheads made from colorful stones brought from hundreds of km away. ~70,000 years old. Some red stone spearheads were purposefully burnt. 🐍⛰️
Python Cave Discovery: 70,000-Year-Old Snake Rock and Ritual Artifacts
BotswanaExcavationNew Research
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Key facts
- Sheila Coulson of the University of Oslo led excavations at Python Cave in Tsodilo Hills, Botswana
- A 6-meter-long quartzite rock carved to resemble a snake with hundreds of man-made notches was discovered
- 13,000 man-made artifacts were found half a meter beneath the cave floor in a trench
- All artifacts were spearheads connected to ritual use, including tools used to carve the snake
- Spearheads were made from multicolored stones brought from hundreds of kilometers away
- Comparative dating placed the spearheads at approximately 77,000 years old
- 22 spearheads were made from red stone and some were purposefully burnt and damaged as ritual destruction
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 ...
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