Death Ritual

    I think I originally signed up for this course (Anth 392) because I wanted to know why people are so fascinated by death.  I personally find it a scary topic, not just because I am afraid of dying (I find living quite pleasant, and would like to continue doing so for another 80 years or so), but because of the unknown.  I also signed up for an anthropology of religion class, which I would highly recommend, especially to take together with this class.  In my anthropology of religion class (310) we examined religion, as well as religious practice, which I feel plays a large role in death ritual and funerary practices.
    I'm not particularly religious, or even remotely religious at all to be honest, but I do wonder why people do the things they do.  Why do people feel the need to bury their dead? Probably just to get them out of the way in the beginning, but that must have evolved into something more, as we see the emergence of early funerary practices at least 130,000 years ago.
    Why do people practice the death practices that they do? What encouraged people to embalm and preserve their dead (Ancient Egyptians)? Or to cremate them today? 
    The always debated topic of displaying the dead, such as in museums and ossuaries is a bit of a touchy subject.  Who gets to decide which dead are displayed? and where? and to whom?  This problem arises often in archaeology in BC, with the remains of First Nations groups discovered during construction or other such work that disturbs the ground.  According to First Nations practice, you cannot disturb the remains of the dead, or their spirits will remain disturbed and come back to "haunt" the living.  So if remains are uncovered at a construction site, what happens to them? If they cant be re-buried, or if it is too late to re-bury them, what can be done? Who should be in charge of deciding these questions?
    On the topic of displacement of remains, I find ossuaries quite fascinating.  Many people know of the enormous one located in Paris; the Catacombs from the 18th Century.  But I found another interesting one; Not quite as large as that of Paris, but definitely more interesting, to me at least.  In Halstatt, Austria, there is a large ossuary, with all the remains proudly displayed.  Now, this is no ordinary ossuary, the remains here have been painted.  

http://blog.hotelclub.com/the-painted-skulls-of-halstatt/

    The remains in this ossuary were painted by, or arranged to be painted for, the relatives of the deceased.  This town had so many people during the 19th Century that they ran out of places to bury them.  To deal with this, they made burial only temporary; after 10-15 years, the remains would be dug up, cleaned, and set in the sun to "bleach" or turn white (as seen above).  Originally, the remains were just to be stored as seen in Paris, but as is the custom, relatives wished to continue to leave flowers and plants at the grave site of their loved one.  In lieu of that (because there no longer was a grave site), the custom became to paint the skull itself, that way there would always be flowers there for the relative.

http://blog.hotelclub.com/the-painted-skulls-of-halstatt/

    The flower-leaving, of course, brings up more questions for me.  Why do we leave flowers?  Is it a similar idea to that of the Egyptians; that those items left with the dead will be taken into the after life or a similar such situation?
    As mentioned above, I am not a religious person.  I don't believe that there is anything after dead; I see it as the natural course of things, we are born, we live, then we die, and that is all - no reincarnation, no heaven.  But even I cant deny that there is something meaningful or symbolic about leaving flowers on grave sites, or revisiting the place that a relatives ashes have been scattered.  I think people do those things for themselves, not for the relatives, even if it is subconsciously.  I don't think most people would like to admit or to accept that there is nothing after death, that once their loved-one has passed on, they will be gone forever.  So, by leaving things on a grave, or visiting grave sites, it gives the feeling of being close to that person again.  If that is your personal inclination, or if that is what you need to do to cope with the loss, then by all means flower-away.  Not to be pessimistic at all, but I would rather people not do so for me.  I believe that everyone has the right to choose their own religion, death practice, and funerary rituals (including flower placing), and as much as I don't understand why they do so, I do respect their right to continue on.