December 11, 2003
Grave Goods

BBCnews is running this article summarizing the recent finds of red ochre lining some early-modern human graves in a cave in Israel. The striking thing is these graves are 100,000 years old, doubling the age at which humans seem to have begun to think abstractly.

My grandmother's funeral a few years ago was the first one I attended as an adult. I never will forget the sight of her body in a casket lined with pictures and momentos. For me, it was a deep connection with the past, participating in what will probably turn out to be the oldest, perhaps first, human ritual ever conceived.

The more things change...

Posted by scott at December 11, 2003 12:29 PM

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