FREE ESSAY ON BURIAL CEREMONIALISM

BURIAL CEREMONIALISM

Throughout the course of human history, anthropological findings have assisted
archeologists in creating an excellent archeological record. Findings such as burial
ceremonialism and certain behaviors that accompany this humanlike ritual are factors that
may aid archeologists in the creation of past records. Through the ritual of burial
ceremonialism of our ancestors we are able to determine certain behaviors that may have
been expressed by the participants. Such examples are our ancestors' view of death, its
significance, and the mere fact that they exhibited humanlike practices. Thus, helping
determine how similar they may have been to us.
Archeologists have determined that the first group of ancestors to show any type of
ritual burial ceremonialism was the Neandertals. "At sites such as Le Moustier, La
Chapelle-aux-Saints, and La Ferrassie in France; Teshik-Tash in Uzbekistan; Shanindar in
Iraq; and Amud, Tabun, and Kebara in Israel, there is evidence that shows that the
Neandertals buried their dead in the ground" (175). 
It would have been much easier for the Neandertals to discard of their dead by ignoring
it or leaving it in the woods or forest to be decomposed by natural processes and
scavenging animals. This would then have shown that the Neandertals did not recognize the
significance of death, but instead, Neandertals took it upon themselves to ceremonially
bury their dead. Not only were the dead buried in the ground, but a certain position was
assumed, which consisted of a flexed form in which their knees were drawn up to their
chest and their arms bend in an upward position (175). One postulate as to why the
Neandertals used this position was to "mimic the position of the fetus in the womb, which
may have been used to symbolize death as the end of the circle of life (176)." Other
forms have been found as well. An example of this is a skeleton of a Neandertal male,
which was found in Kebara Cave in Israel. "This skeleton was intentionally buried, having
been laid on his back in an east-west orientation, his head facing west" (182).
Excavators found that his right arm was laid across his chest and his left arm on his
stomach. Throughout the cave, animal bones showed evidence of gnawing by carnivorous
animals, but the skeleton on the other hand showed no evidence of such damage what so
ever. This lead excavators to believe that he was buried there by companions of some
sort. It was completely intact with the exception of a missing cranium, which to this day
still remains a mystery. This skeleton further proves to archeologists that our
Neandertal ancestors recognized the significance of death.
In addition to the fact that Neandertals recognized the significance of death, the
skeleton provided additional insight into their culture. The Kebara skeleton, located in
Kebara Cave in Israel, provided information to archeologists that Neandertals possessed
the ability to speak due to a certain position of the hyoid bone in the throat.
Excavators also found that the pelvic inlet size of a Neandertal differs from that of a
modern day human. Before this finding in Kebara Cave, it was believed that the gestation
period of a Neandertal female was greater than that of a modern human female, due to the
different sizes of children at the same age. This is now known to be incorrect. "So the
relatively large size of Neandertal children when compared to anatomically modern
children of the same age is probably related to accelerated development after birth, not
faster or longer parental development" (181).
An additional behavior that has been recognized of the Neandertals is that they have many
humanlike practices, one such ritual is that of ceremonial burials. Through this
behavior, it has been found that Neandertals possessed the ability to show and feel
compassion. . "The best, though not only, example comes from the skeleton of an adult
male found in Shanidar Cave in Iraq" (174). In this cave, an individual was found that
had experienced an incredible deal of trauma, consisting of severe damage to the left
side of his head in which the eye socket had been impaired to the point of probable
blindness. His right arm was smashed and partially amputated and his right leg showed
signs of disease. Despite all this, the skeleton of this Neandertal man showed that he
led quite an eventful life because of the amount of stress fractures in his bones. The
only possible way for him to survive would have been with a great deal of help and
understanding of his situation from his companions. Another example that illustrates the
fact that Neandertals exhibited a certain degree of compassion was found at an excavation
site also located in Shanidar cave, an enormous amount of flower pollen was found
directly over the site of a burial and nowhere else. Archeologists determined this could
mean one of two things. The individual may have run through a field of flowers right
before he died, or his companions placed flowers over his grave. If the latter of the two
assumptions is correct, his companions would have exhibited a great deal of compassion
(174). These examples show that the Neandertals, on a whole, demonstrated a certain
degree of compassion that is much like what modern humans' exhibited toward their own
kind. This is yet another reason supporting that they may have been similar to us.
Although most modern day humans do not practice the ritual of leaving the dead with
significant amounts of objects in his or her burial, many civilizations of the past such
as Sumerian and the ancient Egyptian civilizations did in fact leave the deceased with
objects. These objects consisted of artwork, jewelry, personal items, and many others
relating to the life of the individual. Not only do these enable archeologists to use
highly technical forms of past dating to determine the relative age of the materials and
the deceased, but factors such as an individuals economic and social status are also able
to be determined due to the presence and type of these objects and materials.
Studying ceremonial burial has enabled archeologists and anthropologists to further
determine the nature of our ancestors in the past. Through the information received, it
is easier to understand some of the behavioral habits of our ancestors by studying their
rituals and lifestyles as best we can. Many important pieces of information from
archeological and anthropological findings help in the recreation of our past. Although
many of the traits described about Neandertals makes them appear human in character, we
must remember that these are just humanlike rituals, not actual modern day human beings.
This information only further increases our knowledge of how our past was and how we
relate to our distant ancestors.
Burial Ceremonialism
Bibliography
Bibliography
1) Feder, Kenneth L. The Past in Perspective: An Introduction to Human Prehistory.
Mayfield Publishing Company: Mountain View, California. 1996.