Note: Though anthropologists, archaeologists, physiologists, historians, and theologians vociferously disagree over which members of the fossil record can properly be classified as "human"--a debate which resembles the petty haggling of the officers of the membership committee of an exclusive club more than a scholarly disputation--I have used the terms "human" and "humankind" to encompass both Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals, since both buried their dead reverentially.
The burial rituals of prehistoric peoples bears mute testimony to the universal human urge to maintain the illusion of control over uncontrollable natural forces. While an illusion of control can be cast over the often daunting physical wilderness which stretches between birth and death, neither the psyche nor the intellect can confront death with complete confidence. Only through faith can mankind confront the ultimate mystery of existence without despair. The myriad forms of faith all promise their adherents some form of continued existence--from the amplification of terrestrial bliss to an ineffable union with the Supreme Ultimate. Even in those quietest traditions--in which meditation has supplanted burial as the most sacred ritual--the purpose of meditation is to glimpse that which lies beyond the terrestrial realm, and hence what awaits mankind after death. Thus, the burial practices of humans--no matter what the century--are an attempt to confront the most terrifying wilderness of all: the unknown wilderness that begins where life ends.
It is the intellectual--rather than instinctual--realization of mortality that separates humans from the rest of the animal kingdom. While all animals share an inherent instinctual dread of death--the "flight or fight" reaction--the human awareness of death transcends the momentary blinding terror which imminent peril precipitates. The human awareness of death is omnipresent--it pervades human thought and action, for humans are able to conceptualize their own individual death. It is from this conceptualization that the religious impulse is born.
The human conception of the world is based upon the subjective interpretation of natural phenomena, out of which is born self-realization--the awareness that humans are somehow different from the world's other life forms. Such an awareness is logically redundant, for even if one presupposes the basic unity of all life, the simple observation of animal behavior--which is, after all, a vital component of the hunter-gatherer's life--renders the distinctions between man and beast glaringly clear. While some animals--such as elk and bison--lead communal existences, traveling in herds, and others--such as birds--display a sophisticated capacity to communicate, such social organization is rudimentary and stands in stark contrast to the complexities of human interaction. The gulf between the pack of wolves which combine their purely physical and instinctual efforts to kill a single animal in order to provide food for the pack's immediate needs and that of a hunting clan which--by use of weapons, strategy, and the knowledge born of experience--coordinate their efforts to systematically "harvest" herbivores for both immediate and future consumption, as well as for utilitarian and ritual objects which can be fashioned from the carcass, is wide indeed.
Self-realization enabled prehistoric men to coordinate their actions, to strategize, and to anticipate the unfolding of events. These skills and abilities were not contained to the temporal realm, however. Just as man could conceptualize hunger and cold, so too could he conceptualize death. Just as a tribe might discuss strategy or the movements of herds in preparation for a hunt, so too could men discuss the afterworld, its obstacles, and strategies by which they could be surmounted. Thus, prehistoric humans were able to extrapolate a cohesive conception of the afterworld by progressing from the known--the physical world--to the unknown--the realm of death.
The act of burial--no matter what the age--is conducted as much for the benefit of the living as it is for the dead. Thus, an examination of pre-historic burial sites reveals the anticipations of the particular society which generated the grave. The principle evidence with which a pre-literate society's conception of the afterworld can be constructed are derived mainly from the objects with which the dead were buried, the position in which the body was laid, as well as any forensic evidence of ritual behavior around the grave site.
A burial site or grave can be loosely defined as an area which serves to protect the body from scavengers and the ravages of weather. While graves are not a universal phenomenon--some cultures ritually dispose of their dead by acts of cremation, exposure, or other means--they remain the most eloquent records of pre-literate thought available to modern scholars.
The skeletons recovered from pre-historic grave sites are often found laying prone, in a serene sleeping position, surrounded by practical and ritual objects. Evidence of the ritual dying of the body has been found at many pre-historic--especially Neanderthal--sites. Archaeologists have also discovered the remnants of clothing--where climate has allowed its survival--upon ancient skeletons as well, indicating that pre-literate peoples, like many of their modern descendants, took great pains to ensure that the corpse appeared "normal" and "lifelike".
Pre-historic hunter-gatherer societies buried their dead with the tools they had used in life--flint or stone hand axes, charred bone, etc.--revealing that they anticipated their continued use in the afterlife. The particular types of tools interred with the body may also have served as marks of rank, by which the denizens of the spirit world would be able to identify the decease's status and treat him accordingly. To have enclosed valuable and carefully crafted tools with the corpse may also have served as a sign of that individual's "wealth" or prowess.
Though our pre-historic ancestors seem irretrievably lost in the mists of time, a comparison of the burial practices of pre-historic societies with that of modern Americans displays the universality of the human urge to prepare their dead for entrance into the afterlife. Though a wide cultural gulf gapes between the modern Judeo-Christian tradition and the unknown religions of pre-historic societies, their burial practices are remarkably similar. The similarities are best understood when one objectively examines the end results of modern American funerary rites in the same manner that pre-historic burials are dissected.
The cemetery is the principle modern burial site, and its rows of tombstones, crypts, and memorial statues will provide future archaeologists with treasure troves of evidence of the ritual activities surrounding funeral rites and the display of reverence for the dead. Modern Americans are buried in thick walled caskets, which provide shelter from scavengers and climatic damage, suggesting a belief in a physical resurrection. The corpse is placed in the casket in a position of repose--typically resting on the back--with its arms crossed as if sleeping. The mortician's make-up--applied solely for the benefit of the living--would probably be interpreted by an objective observer as some sort of ritual face painting. The "Sunday best" in which the corpse is typically laid to rest is a further example of the use of the corpse to console the living--the combined effect of the clothing, make-up, and the mortician's art of positioning are designed to make the corpse appear as lifelike as possible. This is particularly true in the case of individuals who have died violent or debilitating deaths--the appearance of "normality," which the mortician's art supplies, enables the mourners to remember the deceased not at the moment of death, nor during a lingering illness, but as alive, in the full flush of life.
It is not uncommon to find the casket of the dead lined with ritual and/or practical objects. Often some sort of religious object--such as a rosary, a crucifix, a prayer shawl, a yarmulke, or an icon--is placed either in the cadaver's hands or in its appropriate ritual place. Aside from such strictly ritual objects, modern corpses are often buried with symbolic reminders of their achievements, personality, and profession--i.e. a stethoscope, a baseball mit, a teddy bear, a musical instrument, etc.
Archaeology and paleo-anthropology can only provide tantalizing glimpses into the intellectual world of pre-historic man. Often, the only remnants of what otherwise would be forgotten civilizations are their tombs. (It is significant that the technology developed for the preservation of the dead often far outstripped that devoted to the preservation of life.) Our knowledge of prehistoric religion is derived from forensic evidence and the intuition--or, "educated guesswork"--of scholars. Though the full symbolic meaning of each relic and piece of evidence found at the burial sites of pre-historic people will forever remain a mystery, the barest examination of the forensic record reveals practices astoundingly similar to those of 20th century America. Despite the intervening millennia, the rise and fall of religions, and vast technological advances, the burial practices of pre-historic man reveals the timelessness of the dilemma of death. From the first glimmerings of self-realization, there has existed a universal human urge to protect the dead and speed their entrance into the afterworld. Caught between birth and death, man has developed sophisticated funeral rites not only for the benefit of the dead, but as a means with which he can ward off the ever present specter of death.
essay copyright 1993
hypertext copyright 1996, 1999, 2001
Gregory J. Rosmaita