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Civilization: Who Will Survive? New York City, NY: Ballantine Books; 2010. 7. DCODE by Discovery. 4 Torajan death rituals that are out of the world. Youtube [updated 2019 June 29; cited 2020 Jan 06]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CTvBb6HIVE&t=4s (2018). 8. Volkman TA. Feasts of Honor: Ritual and Change in the Toraja Highlands. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press; 1985. 9. Harris M. Cows, Pigs, Wars, & Witches: The Riddles of Culture. New York, NY: Vintage Books; 1989. 10. Roberts J. Funerals and Fetish Interment in Accra, Ghana. Jindra M, Noret J Death Ritual: Anthropological Perspectives Milton Cohen INTRODUCTION In all societies, when a person dies, family, friends, and neighbors respond in structured, patterned ways to the death. Cultural guidelines determine the treatment and disposal of the body and prescribe a period of mourning for close relatives. Death ritual, like much of human behavior, is an expression of a cultural blueprint, of attitudes, values and ideals passed down by parents, and their parents, which an individual learns as a member of society. The analysis of mortuary practices provides rich data on the behavior of kin and community. It leads to people's notions of gods, souls, witches, spirits and afterworlds. It promises access to their belief and value systems, to their conceptions of the social and moral worlds. It informs that ritual has consequences for both the individual and society. This paper focuses on death ritual from an anthropological point of view. It begins with an account of earliest ritual, at least 100,000 years ago, and follows with descriptions of mortuary practices in more recent context. Two outstanding works are then reviewed: Rites of Passage by Arnold Van Gennep, and "Collective Representations of Death," an essay by Robert Hertz. While Hertz deals exclusively with death, Van Gennep treats death as one of a number of life cycle crises which command ritual observance. Next, a functional approach to explain mortuary ritual is offered. Finally, the concept of deritualization and its consequences for modern society are considered. Ritual: A Definition Ritual is behavior; it is "religion in action" (Wallace: 102). It is personal and private behavior, as it is social. A sick patient praying for strength to endure pain and the soldier praying for protection while undergoing bombardment exemplify solitary ritual. Ritual may involve sacred or secular symbols. It is "stereotyped communication ... which reduces anxiety, prepares the organism to act, and (in social rituals) coordinates the preparation for action among several organisms... “(Wallace: 236) Ritual generally requires a sacred context, says Lessa, although the prime requisite is that it be attended by sentiments, values, and beliefs which transcend the utilitarian. Behavior is ritualistic if it is habitual, socially sanctioned, symbolic and without any practical consideration. (Lessa 1971) Gluckman emphasizes the social attributes of ritual and the importance of supernatural sanction in enforcing conformity. Ritualization refers to the performance of prescribed actions with the expectation that the behavior will "express and amend social relationships" and help to secure mystical "Blessing, purification, protection and prosperity" (Gluckman: 24). Early Death Ritual Death ritual is at least as old as our Neanderthal predecessors who lived in Europe and the Middle East from 100,000110,000 years ago, and may even reach back to Peking Man, almost one-half million years ago.2 Wallace describes the ritual handling of the human body by the Neanderthals. They buried their dead in caves, depositing the body in the earth with great care. The legs were usually flexed or contracted tightly against the body, and the head was frequently pillowed on the arm. Grave goods were often placed with the deceased. A child's body was surrounded by a circle of ibex horns; a young man was buried with a hand ax, a flint scraper, and an assortment of animal bones; an old man was buried with an entire bison leg, tools, and lumps of red ocher. Burial with tools may have been related to the belief that the dead man required these implements for his journey to the other world. Red ocher may have symbolized blood, life and rebirth. A human specimen unearthed by Solecki in Shanidar in the Zagros Mountains of northeastern Iraq was discovered in soil which contained fossil pollen of prehistoric flowers. Perhaps the mourners had covered the corpse with flowers as part of a mortuary ceremony. The flowers may have been symbolic of rebirth, an expression of magic by irritation (Swartz and Jordan: 336-337). Cro Magnon, successors to the Neanderthal, occupied southern Europe and the Mediterranean littoral from about 40,00010,000 years ago. They buried their dead in the mouths of caves in flexed or sleeping positions with grave goods and personal ornaments. The bodies were heavily painted with red ocher. Animal bones and skulls found near many of the graves suggest the possibility of funerary feasts. Wallace described Cro Magnon implements manufactured from human bone: shallow cups made from human skulls; human teeth pierced threading on a cord and incised with ornamental designs. These objects may have been used in a magical ritual "to control, to secure the good will of, or to acquire the virtues of the departed...
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