Taiwan Archeologists Unearth 4,800-Year-Old Mother Cradling a Child

An archaeological find in central Taiwan is both striking and heartwarming. 

Uncovered graves in central Taiwan’s Taichung municipality has led to the discovery of 4,800-year-old fossilized remains of a woman gazing at and cradling an infant.

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Officials of Taiwan’s National Museum of Natural Science announced the find on April 26, according to Reuters. 

Chu Hwei-lee, head of the museum’s Anthropology Department, said “when it was unearthed, all of the archaeologists and staff members were shocked. Why? Because the mother was looking down at the baby in her hands.”

4,800-year-old human fossil of mother cradling infant child shocks archaeologists https://t.co/sMQfVDXr5r pic.twitter.com/9mq1ATCKUo

— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 28, 2016

Beginning in May 2014, the yearlong excavation uncovered 48 sets of human remains.

Carbon dated to the Stone Age, these fossilized remains, which include five children, are the earliest traces of human activity found in central Taiwan.

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The remains of the young mother—who would have stood at 160 cm (5’2″ ft)—and the cradled baby are the most fascinating among them. 

Just days away from Mother’s Day on May 8, the discovery demonstrates the persistance and power of maternal love across millennia. 

Archaeologists in Taiwan have found a 4,800-year-old human fossil of a mother holding an infant child in her arms https://t.co/keXh4mHpyL

— James Dilley (@ancientcraftUK) April 28, 2016