Day: October 9, 2025

The case of Amud 7 opens a fascinating debate.

This Neanderthal infant, buried around 60,000 years ago in Amud Cave (Israel), was found in anatomical connection—an exceptional preservation for such fragile bones.

On its tiny pelvis appeared something even more striking: the maxilla of a red deer.

Was it a symbolic offering, placed as part of a funerary ritual? Or could it have ended up there by chance?

The skeleton suggests deliberate burial—but the meaning of that deer bone remains open to interpretation.

 What do you think?

Photo:  Hovers, E., Ullman, M., & Rak, Y. (2017). Palaeolithic Occupations in Nahal Amud. In Y. Enzel & O. Bar-Yosef (Eds.), Quaternary of the Levant: Environments, Climate Change, and Humans (pp. 255-266). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781316106754.029