Send a text 📖 Read the companion article About Love, Grief, and Being Human In northwestern Iran, at a site called Chaparabad, archaeologists recently uncovered something that rewrites not what we know about the past, but how we feel about it. Two ceramic vessels, dating back 6,500 years to the mid-5th millennium BCE, contained fetal remains preserved against impossible odds. One jar was buried beneath a kitchen floor, alongside the bones of a sacrificed sheep. The other rested near grain storage, unadorned but deliberately positioned. These weren't royal children. There were no golden grave goods, no inscriptions, no monuments. Just clay vessels shaped like wombs, cradling what never got to be. Through 305 precise skeletal measurements—a forensic miracle given how rarely fetal bones survive—researchers determined both infants were approximately 36-38 weeks gestational age. Full term. Babies who should have been born. Who were expected. Who were, perhaps, already named in the private languages of hope that parents whisper when they feel that first kick. This episode challenges: The assumption that frequent infant mortality created emotional distanceThe focus on monumental archaeology over ordinary human storiesThe idea that ancient peoples were fundamentally different from usReference: Fetal vessel burials dated to 6500 years ago at the Chaparabad archaeological site, Northwestern Iran This is Heliox: Where Evidence Meets Empathy Independent, moderated, timely, deep, gentle, clinical, global, and community conversations about things that matter. Breathe Easy, we go deep and lightly surface the big ideas. Support the show About SCZoomers: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1632045180447285 https://x.com/SCZoomers https://mstdn.ca/@SCZoomers https://bsky.app/profile/safety.bsky.app Spoken word, short and sweet, with rhythm and a catchy beat. http://tinyurl.com/stonefolksongs Curated, independent, moderated, timely, deep, gentle, evidenced-based, clinical & community information regarding COVID-19. Since 2017, it has focused on Covid since Feb 2020, with Multiple Stores per day, hence a large searchable base of stories to date. More than 4000 stories on COVID-19 alone. Hundreds of stories on Climate Change. Zoomers of the Sunshine Coast is a news organization with the advantages of deeply rooted connections within our local community, combined with a provincial, national and global following and exposure. In written form, audio, and video, we provide evidence-based and referenced stories interspersed with curated commentary, satire and humour. We reference where our stories come from and who wrote, published, and even inspired them. Using a social media platform means we have a much higher degree of interaction with our readers than conventional media and provides a significant amplification effect, positively. We expect the same courtesy of other media referencing our stories.
