‘Quite spectacular’ discovery shows three-year-old child was carefully laid to rest nearly 80,000 years ago.

Archaeologists have identified the oldest known human burial in Africa during field work that uncovered the remains of a child laid carefully to rest in a grave nearly 80,000 years ago.

“It is the oldest human burial in Africa.

Over the next four years, the researchers excavated the grave from above, revealing yet more bone, but even after applying resins to the material, it was still too weak to recover.

The articulated bones, such as the spine, had not fallen apart in the grave, leading the researchers to suspect the body was wrapped tightly in a shroud before burial.

Archaeologists have found older human burial sites outside Africa.