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Re: Dead body fetishism?
John H. Relethford (relethjh@ONEONTA.EDU)
Mon, 29 Jul 1996 11:47:16 -0400
>... And I think our interest in the bodies of our dead goes all the =
> way back to Homo erectus, does it not?
>
> Junior Doughty
>
The fossil and archaeological evidence show interest in the dead (burials
in this case) going back to Neandertals -- there is no evidence that H.
erectus buried their dead. The more elaborate burials (e.g., grave goods,
etc.) appear with anatomically modern H. sapiens. Neandertal burials may
have been relatively simple affairs; the oft-claimed pollen in the grave
for the Shanidar "flower people" may have gotten there from burrowing
rodents.
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John H, Relethford (relethjh@oneonta.edu)
Dept. of Anthropology
SUNY College at Oneonta
Oneonta, NY 13820
Phone: (607) 436-2017
FAX: (607) 436-2653
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