Neanderthal's 41,000-year-old skeleton all set to resolve this long-standing mystery

Neanderthal's 41,000-year-old skeleton all set to resolve thelong-standing mystery why the Stone Age hominins intentionally buried their dead.

The origin of funerary practices has important implications for the emergence of so-called modern cognitive capacities and behaviour.

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The researchers from the University of Basque in Spain,French National Centre for Scientific Research andMuséum National d'Histoire Naturelle have identified 47 bones belonging to a child's skeleton that were not identified before.

They confirmed that one of these bones was41,000 years old and belonged to a neanderthal after analysing the fragment's mitochondria DNA.

In picture:A researcher from the Musée d'Archéologie Nationale in France examines material from excavations of the La Ferrassie Neanderthal site in southwestern France

Skeletons of dozens ofneanderthals have been discovered in several parts of Europe over the course of the past 150 years.

Spanish and French researchers used modern technology to re-examine the remains and re-excavated the original archaeological site inLa Ferrassie, southern France.They have yielded the largest collections of partial to complete Neandertal skeletons, interpreted as intentional burials.

They reached the conclusion that the corpse of a two-year-old was deliberately laid in a pit dug in sediment.

Theresearchers said the absence of marks from carnivores who tried to scavenge an uncovered body along with positions in which they were laid indicated that the skeleton was placed there intentionally.The sterile sediment removed previously would have been used to fill the pit and cover the child.

The study said, "The origin of funerary practices has important implications for the emergence of so-called modern cognitive capacities and behaviour."

"These new results provide important insights for the discussion about the chronology of the disappearance of the Neanderthals, and the behavioural capacity, including cultural and symbolic expression, of these humans."