19th December 2005, 08:41 PM
but the age or sex of the individual may not be totally irrelevant. A particular item placed in a grave may have reflected that the individual buried had reached a particular stage in their life course. For example, a weapon may have reflected that an individual had reached "maturity", at whatever age that was culturally deemed to have occurred and regardless of whether they actually used, or could have used, that, or a similar, weapon in life. Of course, this may not apply in all cultures, hence very young children buried with weapons. However, perhaps this could also be seen as trying to "cheat". If it was the object that signified maturity rather than the actual age of the dead individual, perhaps by providing a young individual with a "mature" object would mean they could be reborn as "mature" in the next life?...
++ i spend my days rummaging around in dead people ++
++ i spend my days rummaging around in dead people ++