[vannrox]

It's a pretty interesting article.

[LadyDoc]

thanks for the posting...

[ffusco]

I wonder if these bizarre rituals were misguided attempts to satisfy the indigenous peoples.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Yet the undeniable sophistication of the Romans has led many archaeologists to expect civilized treatment of the dead. When excavating cemeteries in Roman Britain, we go to huge lengths to explain away graves that suggest violence and mistreatment of dead bodies. We avoid any suggestion of Roman practices that would be regarded as abhorrent today.

Death in Roman Britain could be cruel and violent, and burial often involved superstition, macabre procedures and spite.

Any one who finds this even moderately surprising should not be considered a serious student of history or human behavior. Any archaeologist who is surprised should have their grants pulled and be drummed out of the profession

Good article.

[U S Army EOD]

They must not have had an industrial shredder available.

[Main Street]

Reminds me of a great movie...

'THE SEARCHERS'-John Wayne (1956)

[Along the way, the searchers find a Comanche buried under a large sandstone rock. [This scene of the traditional Indian burial ritual is closely juxtaposed to the previous scene of the Christian funeral.] Ethan takes his gun and shoots two bullets at the Indian corpse, aiming at its eyes. Although Reverend Clayton interprets his senseless, excessive act as vindictive and contemptuous, Ethan explains how his defilement of the Indian has thwarted the spiritual belief of the Comanche, causing his spirit to wander forevermore:

[Brad Jorgenson takes a small boulder and attempts to crush the skull of a dead Comanche warrior.]

Reverend Clayton: "Jorgenson!"

Ethan: "Why don't you finish the job?"

[Ethan shoots out the eyes of the Comanche warrior.]

Reverend Clayton: "What good did that do ya?"

Ethan: "By what you preach...none. But, what that Comanch believes - ain't got no eyes...can't enter the spirit land...has to wander forever between the winds. You get it Reverend."

[Ethan is an incensed Indian-hater, although he is very much akin to them and is knowledgeable about their way of life. He can speak the Comanche language fluently, and he is an expert in how they live - he acknowledges or accepts their belief that a dead Comanche warrior without his eyes will wander in the spirit-land forever. But he belongs to neither the Indian world or the white world - doomed forever to remain a lone son of the frontier.]

[SunkenCiv]

Just adding this to the GGG catalog, not sending a general distribution.

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