NY DAILY

Woman of Caviglione cave/Cavillon cave, Liguria, (Italy) involved evidence of a ceremonial burial of an adult female wearing a cap of more than 200 shells with a border of deer’s teeth, red ochre around the face, and a bone awl at the side. The lady Cavillon was first believed to be a man so was dubbed “The Man of Menton”. In this cave, the tomb of the Lady of Cavillon, who died aged thirty-seven 24,000 years ago, was discovered.  Interestingly, this woman was adorned with a funerary headpiece, which suggests that the people of this time might have believed in life after death.”

 “The single burial, discovered in the cave of Caviglione held a woman and a possible shaman wearing a seeming headgear of shells and deer teeth. The body was covered with red ocher, buried on her left side, facing west, with the hands close to his face and legs folded.”

She had been encased in an external coating of red hematite –armor that prevents the soft tissues from rotting away. The colored corpse is telling us, “I remain among you”. She had to have been buried in this place as a memorial. Burial at a predetermined depth formed a bed in the sandy clay soil that prevented predators from attacking her. She had to continue to be the fountainhead of their energies, the key to providing evidence of an organized colony. The ceremony was performed after the body ornaments had been placed in position; the death of the Lady was a great challenge to face.  Examining the funerary practices and the rich cultural assemblages that provided the ornaments of the Lady who was discovered in the Cavillon cave.”