A Mother and Child Reunion? An Unusual Ottoman-Period Bedouin Pit Grave at Rahat, the Northern Negev

The skeletal remains of two individuals were found in a pit grave at Rahat, in the Northern Negev desert, dated to the Ottoman period. They were identified as a primary burial of a female, 30–50 years old, superposed by a secondary burial of a child, 10–15 years old. Anthropological studies of skeletal remains dated to the Ottoman period in Israel/Palestine are numerous, yet the secluded location of this grave and the intentional secondary burial, which are foreign to Islamic burial traditions, called for special attention. This paper presents a comprehensive anthropological analysis of the skeletal remains, incorporating information on bioanthropology and burial practices. We consider that the child’s bones were deliberately placed atop the articulated skeleton of the woman (possibly his or her mother), sometime after her death.