Death At Lake Mungo Summary
Death at Lake Mungo
1. In what circumstances were the skeletons of Mungo Woman and Mungo Man recovered from the site at Lake Mungo?
Both of the discoveries of the bodies were made by accident, the first discovery of the Mungo Woman being made when a geomorphologist, Jim Bowler, was looking for evidence of climate change, instead finding the remains of the Mungo Woman and the Mungo Man, six years later and 500 metres away. The Mungo Woman was found charred from cremation and her bones smashed into pieces as a part of the burial rituals, whereas, the Mungo Man was found intact and on his side with traces of red ochre from the burial ritual having stained the ground around him pink.
2. What do geomorphologists and physical anthropologists study?
Geomorphologists study the form, development and change of the landscape and physical anthropologists study the physical characteristics of …show more content…
Although the burial rituals are reminiscent of the Aboriginal Australians it is still an assumption that their belief systems would be the same. It is a guess and a wild leap to go from burial rituals to an entire belief system.
Burial Customs Ur
1. What conclusion could you draw about Sumerian afterlife beliefs from the fact that the bones of other dead relatives were pushed into a corner to make way for new burials?
You could reach the conclusion that the way was cleared for the most recently departed as their spirit had yet to depart to the afterlife and required the most space to make the journey as quick and easy as possible. The other dead relatives had already made their journey and didn’t require the same amount of space. You could also conclude that there was limited space in the tombs to bury every relative, so as the newly departed was buried they would move aside the older bodies to make more space.
2. What was the purpose of placing personal possessions of the deceased in the
1. In what circumstances were the skeletons of Mungo Woman and Mungo Man recovered from the site at Lake Mungo?
Both of the discoveries of the bodies were made by accident, the first discovery of the Mungo Woman being made when a geomorphologist, Jim Bowler, was looking for evidence of climate change, instead finding the remains of the Mungo Woman and the Mungo Man, six years later and 500 metres away. The Mungo Woman was found charred from cremation and her bones smashed into pieces as a part of the burial rituals, whereas, the Mungo Man was found intact and on his side with traces of red ochre from the burial ritual having stained the ground around him pink.
2. What do geomorphologists and physical anthropologists study?
Geomorphologists study the form, development and change of the landscape and physical anthropologists study the physical characteristics of …show more content…
Although the burial rituals are reminiscent of the Aboriginal Australians it is still an assumption that their belief systems would be the same. It is a guess and a wild leap to go from burial rituals to an entire belief system.
Burial Customs Ur
1. What conclusion could you draw about Sumerian afterlife beliefs from the fact that the bones of other dead relatives were pushed into a corner to make way for new burials?
You could reach the conclusion that the way was cleared for the most recently departed as their spirit had yet to depart to the afterlife and required the most space to make the journey as quick and easy as possible. The other dead relatives had already made their journey and didn’t require the same amount of space. You could also conclude that there was limited space in the tombs to bury every relative, so as the newly departed was buried they would move aside the older bodies to make more space.
2. What was the purpose of placing personal possessions of the deceased in the