Cremation
The burning of a body after death.
The burning of a body after death.
If at all, Romans were buried outside the city-gates, probably for hygienic purposes. Travellers on the main roads leading to the city were greeted by a long queue of tombstones. The inscription on Roman graves sometimes even welcomed visitors coming to the city.
The stake did not serve as place to burn witches, but the people at the end of the Bronze Age were generally cremated, ashes were collected in an urn.
The Stone Age people died - in respect to present - very early. Poor hygiene, illnesses, bad nourishment and burden of labour lead to an average life expectancy of 20-25 years. Many children already died in their first 4 years...
On the basis of research on 66 skeletons from a graveyard in Susteren (from around 800 to 1100 AD) we know that women on average reached the age of 44 years and men on average 38 years. The infant death rate must have been very high. About one third of the children died before reaching five years.
The inhabitants of the lake fortress were buried in the flat cemetery on a hill on the north-eastern shore of Lake Āraiši near the Liepiņas farm. As part of the archaeological research on the Āraiši area, 168 female, male and children’s graves were...
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