An infant burial from Arma Veirana in northwestern Italy provides insights into funerary practices and female personhood in early Mesolithic Europe

The evolution and development of mortuary behaviors is of enormous cultural significance. Here we report a richly-decorated young infant burial from Arma Veirana (Liguria, northwestern Italy) that is directly dated to 10,211-9,910 cal BP (95.4% probability), placing it within the early Holocene and therefore attributable to the early Mesolithic, a cultural period from which well-documented burials are exceedingly rare. Virtual dental histology, proteomics, and aDNA indicate that the infant was a 40–50 days old female. Associated artifacts indicate significant material and emotional investment in the child’s interment. The Arma Veirana burial constitutes the earliest European near-neonate documented to be female, thus providing important insights into sex/gender-based social status, funerary treatment, and the attribution of personhood to the youngest individuals among prehistoric hunter-gatherer groups.