Ancient Burials Essay

At some point in our lives, we all come to realize that death is a part of life. Cultural diversity provides a wide variety of lifestyles and traditions for each of the unique groups of people in our world. Within these different cultures, the rituals associated with death and burial can also be uniquely diverse. Many consider ritualistic traditions that differ from their own to be somewhat strange and often perceive them as unnatural. A prime example would be the burial rituals of the Native American people.

Every individual experiences the act of death, and most persons experience the death of someone they know of. Whether family, kin, or someone infamous, the living deal with the process of dying. Anthropology seeks to understand the universal process of death ritual and how different cultures deal with death differently. An anthropologist can extract social values of a given culture, past or present, from how death ceremony is practiced. Such values could be regarding political hierarchy or an individual’s status in a society, and about a culture’s spiritual or religious faith. By exploring death ceremony in ancient Egypt, contemporary Hindu death practice in India, and current North American funerary rites, it can be illustrated that

Neanderthal burials that have been excavated and researched in the past have produced convincing evidence suggesting that they exhibited similar characteristics to humans when it comes to religiosity. Nikki Basset explains in her article about burial rituals that “Gargett recognized that often Neanderthals were believed to have buried their dead and performed rituals that suggest an emotional capacity equal to our own.” (basset) The common theme and emotional capacity that Gargett was speaking of was that of death, and that “…they treated death similarly to other people, as an extension of life, and thus they believed that people post-mortem play similar social roles as in everyday life.”

Mortuary remains are a major source of data on human social relations. In this exercise, you will analyze data from a fictive mortuary assemblage (described below and separate data sheet), and then discuss some of the ambiguities and pitfalls of this sort of analysis.

The text Burial Rites written by Hannah Kent focuses on the true story of the last woman to be executed in Iceland, her punishment for playing part in the murder of two men. She is sent to wait out her days on the farm of a district officer, Jón Jónsson with his two daughters and wife. Naturally, the family are horrified to have a convicted murderer in their midst. Borne from this, the family refuse to talk to her. A young man, Toti is appointed as her spiritual guardian in the last days of her life, throughout the text, he attempts to redeem her soul by asking her to recount her life.

Mummification is an ancient egyptian burial rite that is centered around preparing the soul of the deceased for the afterlife. There are multiple steps involved in the process of mummification and several objects with different functions used to perform this burial rite. Mummification is centered around the thought that death was merely physical and your soul continued living, with the ability to take distinct action, in the afterlife. Everyone desired to be mummified, however the extent of the mummification depended on the wealth of the family involved. Mummification was also generally not a rite reserved for criminals and lawbreakers since the idea behind mummification is for the deceased to have an easier afterlife.

First, indians were disrespected. Their burial grounds were disturbed and often built over(indian burial grounds). The citizens showed little respect to the dead. This only rose when the grave creek mound was found and they charged others to look at the bones(indian burial grounds). The researchers did not consider the culture of the native americans or that the remains were once people. They uncermouly dubbed these remains the king tut of the west Before the us passed a bill that after study the bones must be reburied again. (Indian burial ground). The bill was only passed in 1990 and it shows the lack of though the Government had for the indians. More recently in 1998, they removed 154 indian remains only to build a walmart. They were not only getting their burial grounds disrupted, but their culture was also getting disrespected. They had their children forcibly removed from them and put into a

Although we discussed this in our discussion section, the tour guide man also brought up the fact that slavery not only existed in the South but also in the North and in NYC. I found this interesting because growing up, teachers never mentioned that slavery existed in the North, they always focused on the South. The African Burial Ground made sure to inform visitors that slavery wasn’t just restricted in the South but that Slavery was also Northern and just as brutal. The African Burial Ground tell us so much about the lives of enslaved Africans. It’s amazing how researchers can learn from the skeletons if the person was male or female, and infant or a child and how they died as well. Their work load and diet can also be revealed by examining

Both Etruscan and Roman tomb sculpture function to memorialize the departed allowing them to move on from the world of the living and seeks to comfort those who have lost the ones they love. The two societies have differing practices in regards to death and therefore sculptures concerning the subject are somewhat different with a few identifiable similarities. While both societies seek to comfort the living and commemorate the dead this is achieved through different approaches. The Etruscan Sarcophagus with reclining couple from Cerveteri, Italy and the Mummy of Artemidorus from Roman Egypt are two examples of contrasting representations of the dead. When analyzing tomb sculpture one of the main questions is whether the work adapts a retrospective approach (presentation of the deceased as they were in life) or a prospective one (the viewpoint of looking forward to life beyond the grave). While the Etruscan sarcophagus gives a more retrospective memorialization through the depiction of the couple in a state of regularity the Roman Mummy of Artemidorus presents a more prospective approach concerning the deceased through the emphasis of funerary practices.

The excavation and discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb was as a result of the efforts of the Archaeologist Howard Carter and his team. Carter’s discovery of the tomb came by finding steps to the burial near the entrance to the tomb Ramses VI. The subsequent excavated of the site by Carter and his team revealed the greatest ever treasure found from an Egyptian tomb and showed the existence of Tutankhamun. Carter’s methodology for the excavation was that of maintaining records for each artefact and that every artefact that was brought out of the tomb was preserved appropriately. The discovery and excavation of the tomb was a long and complex process but with it revealed much about Tutankhamun.

Since being one of the most intact monuments of Ancient Egypt, the finding of Tutankhamun's tomb by Howard Carter in 1922 is believed to be the utmost significant archaeological discoveries of the century. The treasures found were stored in the following parts of the tomb the Antechamber Annex, and then the Burial Chamber and Treasury. The Ancient Egyptians believed in the afterlife. The customs and beliefs of the Ancient Egyptians called for the preservation of the body and extensive provisions for the after-life which were buried with them in the tomb. These treasures were seen as a continuation of the life of the Pharaoh before his death. It was therefore seen as essential that the favourite items belonging to King Tut would be buried

The opening events of the play quickly establish the central conflict. Creon has decreed that the traitor Polynices must not be given proper burial, and Antigone is the only one who will speak against this decree and insist on the sacredness of family. Whereas Antigone sees no validity in a law that disregards the duty family members owe one another, Creon’s point of view is exactly opposite. He has no use for anyone who places private ties above the common good, as he proclaims firmly to the Chorus and the audience as he revels in his victory over Polynices. Creon’s first speech, which is dominated by words such as “principle,” “law,” “policy,” and “decree,” shows the extent to which Creon fixates on government and law as the

Mankind’s history of burial practices and funeral customs are as old as civilization itself. There is no specific way to planning a funeral. Every civilization and culture has provided for their dead in different ways. Religion and personal beliefs play an important role in the burial practices and funeral customs of a given culture or civilization. Furthermore, each civilization and cultured ever studied have three things in common: some type of funeral rites, rituals, and ceremonies; A sacred place for the dead; and memorialization of the dead. As far back as the time of Christ, burials have been noted to take place. In time burial and funeral customs have become very distinct, interesting and

The cemetery I chose to visit and explore was the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. On the way to the cemetery I couldn’t help but feel anxious. When I began to drive past the cemetery to its entrance, all I could see were miles and miles of headstones. It was eerie to say the least. As a kid, whenever my family would drive by a cemetery, my siblings and I would hold our breath until we passed so as to not breathe in the wandering, lost souls. Actually going into a cemetery to look around seemed counterintuitive, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to hold my breath for that long. It didn’t help that right when I entered those black gates that separated the living from the dead, clouds of smoke and ash permeated the air around me due to bodies being cremated on site.

Throughout history, the mummy has been stereotyped as no more than an egyptian deceased wrapped in cloth, whose spirit returns from the dead in order to haunt mankind. However, as literature and mythology present, Mummies exist in modern context promptly as scorned lovers, scientists, past rulers, wronged souls, or a combination of all. In deconstructing the Mummy, the statement of “We are creatures that require social interaction” often comes to mind. After all, even in death we are infrequently capable of surviving without the companionship of family, loved ones, friends, or the presence of another soul.