Caves have long been windows into humanity’s distant past. They offer clues about how our ancestors lived, what they believed, and how they interacted with their environment.
In northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, one cave has been particularly intriguing. Manot Cave, first discovered in 2008, has been a site of incredible archaeological finds.
But recent research has uncovered something entirely new — a deep chamber that may have been used for ancient rituals, according to Historienet.
The chamber lies eight stories below the cave’s entrance. It’s dark, secluded, and far from where daily activities would have taken place.
Researchers from Israel and Spain believe this isolation wasn’t accidental. Instead, the space may have been deliberately chosen as a place for worship around 35,000 years ago.
A Totem or Spiritual Symbol
Inside the chamber, the team discovered a carved stone with an image of a turtle shell. It had been carefully placed in a small niche, suggesting it held special meaning.
The researchers think it may have served as a totem or spiritual symbol.
They also found traces of wood ash on stalagmites in the chamber. This led them to theorize that ancient humans carried torches to light their ceremonies in the pitch-black space.
The chamber’s acoustics, which amplify sound, would have made it an ideal setting for gatherings, adding a unique sensory experience to the rituals.
If these interpretations are correct, this could be the oldest known ritual site in Asia.
The findings suggest that early humans here weren’t just surviving — they were creating spiritual practices and finding ways to connect with something beyond the physical world.
Manot Cave has already provided remarkable insights into human history. Among its most famous discoveries is a 55,000-year-old skull, thought to belong to an individual with both Neanderthal and modern human ancestry.
It offered some of the clearest evidence yet of interbreeding between the two species.
Now, with the exploration of this chamber, researchers are uncovering another layer of life in the distant past.
The rituals performed here show how early humans were beginning to explore complex ideas about spirituality and community in ways that still resonate today.
