Recently, the Israeli archeologists dug up the skeleton of a female spiritualist that seems to have been buried 12,000 years ago.

Leore Grosman, the archeologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who led the excavation, reported, "The grave, which also held 50 tortoise shells, a leopard pelvis and a human foot, is thought to be one of earliest burial sites of a shaman on archeological record and is the first of its kind found in the Middle East."

She further confirmed that it seems that the shaman was nearly 45 years old at the time of her death, and with the kinds of things buried along with her, it points out that she had a high status in the community.

Miss Grosman also informed, "Clearly a great amount of time and energy was invested in the preparation, arrangement, and sealing of the grave."

She was surprised to note that the body was placed in an unusual way, that is laid out on its side and its legs folded inward at the knees.

The body was covered with 10 large stones that might be a way to keep the wild animals away. It could also be a way through which the spirit of the Shaman could be kept inside the grave itself.

"The shaman would have been a member of the Natufian culture that lived in the areas now recognized as Israel, Lebanon and western Jordan at the end of the Paleolithic period, a time when human society was on the cusp of transition into an agricultural age," confirmed Miss Grosman.

"The organised burial site lends to the evidence of the changes their society was undergoing," added Miss Grosman.