Talk:Bad Dürrenberg burial

changing reference template
I would like to add some new info and references to this page, but I can't for the life of me figure out how this reference template works. Would anyone mind if I switched it to the standard referencing system, that allows the use of the automatic reference generator you see when you click the Cite button? It's a short article, and I don't see why that system would be a problem. Right now it's very difficult to add information. Thanks. Ninafundisha (talk) 12:59, 27 April 2024 (UTC)


 * Shortened footnotes is the current format simply through personal preference! No qualms about changing it tbh. I fell into using sfn through WP Ancient Egypt and I'm used to the Harvard style from uni. If you'd like you can find out more about it at its template page : )
 * I too have more information that I am intending to add to the page but it is currently waiting in my sandbox for inspiration to strike to organise it lol so feel free to have a look. Otherwise, go forth Merytat3n (talk) Merytat3n (talk) 03:39, 28 April 2024 (UTC)

Re: remembrance

 * Around 6400 BC, approximately 600 years after her death, a pair of antler headdresses were buried 3 ft (0.91 m) from her grave, suggesting she was remembered and revered centuries later

That's pretty remarkable. How certain are they about this interpretation? Viriditas (talk) 00:06, 6 July 2024 (UTC)


 * Hard to say. My understanding is that the suggestion is based on the proximity to the shaman's grave. Quite a wide area was excavated and sampled ahead of the state garden show and no other Mesolithic finds were made (Middle Age pits were dug in the area but they didn't reach the Meso/Neolithic finds). Yet, the antlers were found very close to the grave. Harald Meller suggests her grave must have been marked with a small mound or an upright post set into the ground. He thinks the antlers were left by later shamans who called on her for help during the climate shifts of the 8.2-kiloyear event.(info from Curry 2023 and The Bad Dürrenberg shaman: at the site by the State Museum for Prehistory Halle's Youtube channel) Merytat3n (talk) 21:57, 6 July 2024 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the reply. Is this an unusual interpretation, or rather, an unusual find?  I ask because I can't recall anything like this before.  To put it another way, is there any other site like the Bad Dürrenberg burial, that is remotely similar, where it was suggested that a person was also "remembered and revered" for long periods of time? Viriditas (talk) 22:15, 6 July 2024 (UTC)
 * The interpretation is valid and logical given the available evidence. The shaman was clearly a significant individual so its not surprising she was remembered by her community for so long, probably passed down through oral history. In terms of an individual/a site being remembered for a long time, it is not so unusual but I don't know enough about Mesolithic Europe to say in that context. Revering (long) deceased individuals wasn't uncommon in human history. Ancestor worship is/was pretty widely practiced. In ancient Egypt, Amenhotep I was worshiped for at least 500 years at Deir el-Medina and Khufu had an active mortuary priesthood 2000 years after his death. There's evidence in Australia that a ritual practice continued for 12,000 years in the same cave. So, the shaman of Bad Dürrenberg is special but shes not necessarily unique ^_^ Merytat3n (talk) 10:48, 7 July 2024 (UTC)
 * Thank you for the comparative references. I will ruminate on this for a bit and may have some followup questions later. Viriditas (talk) 22:21, 7 July 2024 (UTC)