>Somehow I don't think bodies thrown in a pit is real strong evidence of
>"ritual burial," or professorial bipeds "struggling" with the issues of
>existence. It was more likely the best way to keep the old homestead clean.
>Would you want rotting carcassas all over your neighborhood? (I'm not from
>Texas so I can't answer that last one).
This morning I passed a field on the way to work. There were some people
huddled around a hole they had dug. Above the hole was a steel box. Curious,
I went over and asked them what they were doing. It seems that they had
stuffed the body of a loved one in this little box and were about to
drop him into a pit!!!! I was flaberghasted. Surely this isn't "ritual
burial'? Surely this was not evidence that they were struggling with
the issues of death? Of course not, Jim had already assured me that
this was not the case. These people in that field were merely
keeping the neighborhood clean. They simply didn't want carcasses
littering up the neighborhood.
(sarcasm mode off)
What really struck me was that modern humans, with the way we bury
people, create an artificial cave for the body to rest in.
We put them in a box, bury the box. Now there is a small void
in the earth (a small cave if you will) with a body lying in it.
While the Sima people didn't throw dirt on top of their pits,
(but some archaics did do that), they, like us, were throwing
Auntie Em into a pit.
Jim, I don't know what you do with your dead relatives (California is
a very different place) but I wouldn't think you keep them in a rocking
chair. Most Americans throw them into a man-made pit. You should try it.
Hmmm... Wasn't the Bates Motel in California???