An international team of researchers led by fan‌ny Bocquentin, an archaeologist and anthropologist at the French National Center for Scientific Research, discovered evidence of live cremation at a site. New stonework in Beisamoun, Israel.

“With the help of anthropologists, the burnt human skeletons were immediately identified and all attention was focused on digging this particular hole. It was actually a crematory crater, ”Bocquentin said.

The team of scientists used advanced imaging techniques, infrared spectroscopy, to determine the composition of the pit and determine the burning temperature. The results of the excavation have uncovered 355 bones.

Meanwhile, according to the results of spectroscopic analysis, the temperature in the crematorium can reach up to 700 degrees Celsius. The size and condition of the bone fragments show that the remains belonged to a young adult injured before di‌ed. The placement of the bones indicates that the body was placed in a sitting position and remained the same throughout the cremation.

By the seventh millennium BC, the Levant people were working in agriculture and raising livestock, but they still hunted for food. Archaeological evidence suggests that the communities in the region during this time were more isolated than their ancestors, but some interactions persisted.

Researchers say they have also unearthed similar cremation holes dating back to 6,500 BC at a excavation site in Syria.

"This cannot be a coincidence, there must be a connection between these populations," Bocquentin said.

Bocquentin’s discovery is as‌sessed as clear evidence of a shift in the way people in Levant treat the dead.

"In periods before our discovery, funeral customs were often spread over time. The dead were buried, awaited decomposition and then the grave was reopened, the bones were rearranged, The skull is removed, sometimes a face is plastered with lime on the dry skull. Then the skull is buried in a different tomb with the others, "Bocquentin informed.

This burial process takes a lot of effort and time. However, cremation provides a way to accelerate decomposition. Additionally, with the advent of cremation, bodies are no longer removed after decomposition.