The child's remains were painted with red ochre.
The ancient child's skull and jaw are fragmented. The diagonal lines show where ochre pigment was found.
(Image: © Sofia Samper Carro/ANU)
Archaeologists have discovered the rare burial of a young child who was laid to rest 8,000 years ago without arm and leg bones, a new study finds.
The child, who was no older than 8, was buried on what is now Alor Island, Indonesia. During the burial ceremony, the long bones in the child's arms and legs were removed and disposed elsewhere, and part of the child's face was painted with red ochre, a pigment often used in burials across the ancient world.
"Ochre pigment was applied to the cheeks and forehead and an ochre-colored cobblestone was placed under the child's head when they were buried," study lead researcher Sofia Samper Carro, a lecturer of archaeology at Australian National University in Canberra, said in a statement.