Traces of Flowers Discovered in the Paleolithic Tomb of the 'Red Lady'

It turns out that putting flowers on tombs wasn't only something that humans do in the present. Scientists have discovered the traces of flowers on a tomb that dates to the Upper Paleolithic.

The burial site is of the so-called Red Lady. It was discovered in El Mirón cave in 2010. This cave was inhabited between the Middle Paleolithic and the Bronze Age, which means that it contains a significant archaeological deposit. While the cave itself was discovered in 1903, systematic archaeological investigations didn't begin until 1996.

In this latest study, the researchers studied a grave containing the remains of a woman between the ages of 35 and 40. This grave is located at the back of the cave in a small space between the wall and a block that has come away from the roof. There are several engravings on this block that belong to the same period as the burial. In addition, the reddish color of the bones and the sediment in which they lie point to the use of ochre as part of the interment, and gave the woman the name the "Red Lady."

What's interesting is that the researchers found the remains of fossilized pollen from flowers that had been placed on the tomb. The researchers ruled out other possibilities that the plants may have been used for food or therapeutic purposes.

"The most plausible hypothesis is that complete flowers were placed on the tomb," said Jose Uriarte, one of the researchers, in a news release. "It has not been possible to say whether the aim of placing these plants was to give the dead woman a ritual offering, or whether they fulfilled a more simple purpose linked, for example, to hygiene or cleansing."

The findings reveal that 16,000 years ago, flowers were indeed placed on the tomb. This, in turn, reveals a bit more about the funerary practices of the time.

The findings are published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

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