maybesbabies t1_jd1lztk wrote on March 21, 2023 at 4:15 AM

Reply to comment by ArchaeoHugh in Saudi Arabia stone ruins were pilgrimage sites, where an ancient cult gathered to sacrifice animals about 7,000 years ago by marketrent

And I'm sorry, one more question if I may. Does this in some way imply large scale processing? If the horns had been treated, perhaps they were used in another application, these were brought here for some other application, the meat was used elsewhere, etc. Would this imply a larger population using the end products of these sacrifices then, like a sort of religious factory work? I'm of limited understanding, but weren't there many bull cults/horned cults in the region at the time?

ArchaeoHugh t1_jd2cawi wrote on March 21, 2023 at 10:10 AM

Yep, cattle cults are common around the world. You can see them in places like Yemen or the corbeilles in Saharan Africa. All I can say is we know one of the horns appears to have burning inside- almost like it was a torch. But we also find little hearths inside the mustatil, so that could be why. Unfortunately, we can’t answer the question as to whether the horns were used elsewhere first. I’d doubt it but you can’t discount it. We just gotta dig more!!!