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A Study of Burial Patterns and Symbolism with Reference to Harappan Sites in India

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A Study of Burial Patterns and Symbolism with Reference to Harappan Sites in India Cultural and Religious Studies, October 2017, Vol. 5, No. 10, 599-606 doi: 10.17265/2328-2177/2017.10.003 D DAVID PUBLISHING A Study of Burial Patterns and Symbolism With Reference to Harappan Sites in India Satarupa Bal Antiquity and Museums Section, Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi, India Since time and beyond, when humans first developed the understanding of staying in communities, a sense of affection and adoration grew towards fellow beings. The law of nature of the cycle of life gave rise to the belief in life after death and a sense of intimidation for the same, gave way to supernatural beliefs. Such beliefs gave rise to multifarious customary activities. A study to understand them on the basis of symbolism has paved the way for simplification of the complex rituals, and hence, perceive the prevalent socio-cultural aspects of those times. Keywords: Burial patterns, Harappa, Harappan burials in India, Burial analysis, Mortuary practices, Pre/Early Harappan Burial, Mature Harappan Burial, Social aspects of Harappan Burials Introduction Burial may be defined as “to bury,” “grave or tomb,” “the act or process of burying,” “the act or ceremony of burying” etc., while a burial ground is defined in different terms, such as, burying ground, graveyard, necropolis etc. in the archaeological context. Since the earliest times, the disposal of the dead has been given much importance by the humans. Often, the dead ones were accompanied with food and personal belongings indicating a belief of life after death. The humans attempted to relive the memory of the departed souls and tried to erect a tomb or a memorial stone to remember their close relatives, kith and kin, etc. In the global context, the earliest known burials may be attributed to the Middle Palaeolithic times or Mousterian levels. The presence of burials from the prehistoric context has been found so far from Tabun Cave, Israel, (circa 180,000 years ago). La Ferrassie, Dordogne, France, which provides evidence of remains of eight bodies placed in man-made graves, along with burial goods, protective flagstones, earth mounds, etc. (see http://www.caves.org/grotto/esso/RESOURCES/burials.pdf). The presence of eight adults and two infant skeletal remains from the Middle Palaeolithic context from Shanidar Cave, located in the Zagros Mountains of north eastern Iraq is one of the prominent Neanderthal sites in West Asia (Solecki, 1977, pp. 114-124). The excavations carried out between 1957-1961 have yielded remains of nine Neanderthal skeletons, of which two exhibit clear evidence of performance of burial rituals (Solecki, 1977, p. 114). Two of the nine individuals, from Shanidar IV presented very good evidence of Neanderthal burials dated to 35,000-65,000 years ago. Further, the remains of ancient flower pollens from the soil clinging to the skeletal remains of Shanidar IV presents a very good evidence of attachment and association with the deceased person and as a respect or esteem, the flowers were placed along with the burial. In the Indian context, the evidence for the disposal of Satarupa Bal, Masters in Archaeology (2 years), University of Calcutta; Post Graduate Diploma in Archaeology (2 years) from Institute of Archaeology, Archaeological Survey of India, Government of India. 600 A STUDY OF BURIAL PATTERNS AND SYMBOLISM dead in a definite burial mode is noticed from the prehistoric period onwards, most particularly from the Mesolithic period onwards. The Mesolithic sites excavated so far, provide evidences, that can be pieced together to have an understanding of the beliefs and customs of the ancient population towards afterlife and disposal of dead. These systems of internment of the dead ones also help us to understand the multifarious beliefs and customs existed among the various prehistoric communities. The Mesolithic sites that have yielded evidence of burials are widely separated from each other, the sites of the middle Ganga plain is particularly important as they have revealed a large number of burials and a quite deal of multi-disciplinary studies have been conducted on these burials. Sites such as Bhimbetka, Damdama, Sarai Nahar Rai, Mahadaha etc. provide examples of varying burial practices. Mode of Disposal In general sense, burial practice may be defined as “the beliefs and customs associated with the burial of the dead, which was practiced by the cultural inhabitants.” These beliefs, customs, and practices were unique and vary from culture to culture, as it is garnered from the archaeological sources. The past cultural inhabitants not only buried their dead, they also practiced several other modes of disposal of the dead. Two broader modes of disposal noticed from archaeological records were burial and cremation. Burying the dead, in turn had various sub-varieties depending upon the details of the burial contents, position and stature of the skeletal remains, etc. A sub-variety of burying the dead is also observed from archaeological evidence. It is a symbolic burial. The symbolic burials often contain no remains of human remains and a ritual only is performed with all the paraphernalia of a usual inhumation burial. The reason for such a burial may be varied. Often the body remains of a person are not found, and hence, a symbolic burial commemorating that person is performed. Otherwise, if the culture is in a warring society and if the person concerned dies in a war or conflict, whatever remains of the person could be gathered are collected and assembled together and a burial ritual is performed. Cremation of dead was also a major kind of disposal of dead during ancient times. Although evidences are rare, enough evidences from literary sources are found for cremating the dead ones. In certain cases, the ashes and charred remains after the cremation of dead were also placed in urns and the usual burial rituals were performed. Cremation is a common practice of disposal of the dead among many sects of the society during the modern times. The cremation of the deceased person also involved in a series of rituals which might have evolved through the passage of time and crystallized after trial and error. The basic function of performing such a ritual may be deduced as highly philosophical and metaphysical. It is the yearning of the close kin of the deceased person to ensure a life of peace after his death in the nether world. In other words, it is a belief of life after death. It is also the differentiation of body and soul, and the departure of the soul from the earthly body. The belief conjures a life for this soul after it leaves the earthly body. The burial rituals are also an outcome of resting this soul of the departed person in peace. Due to the belief, that if the soul is not rested in peace, it might also torment or wander in a restless state of motion. The customary burial practices ensure a set of rituals performed at the time of internment of the body with a belief that the soul rests in peace and his/her afterlife is secured. It is with this belief system that several ancient civilizations devised various sets of burial practices. It also depended upon the social status of the person which was proportionately reflected in the nature of the burial goods. The internment of a body in the burial has also its significance. Based upon the position of the body, various definitions are given. Thus, in an extended burial, the body is placed lying flat with arms and legs straight, or with the arms folded on the chest. The extended burials may be supine (lying on the back) or prone A STUDY OF BURIAL PATTERNS AND SYMBOLISM 601 (lying on the front). The other modes are flexed, in which the legs of the body are bend, and crouched, where the legs of a body is folded up to the chest. The flexed posture may also be supine, or turned towards one side, either to the right or left of the dead body. In the burial record of different cultures and civilizations, several such postures of internment of the human bodies could be noticed. The archaeological evidence also indicates the presence of single, double, or several dead bodies in a single grave pit. The evidence from Lothal of a burial consisting of two skeletons has been interpreted as a Sati type burial. Multiple burials are also found, as gleaned from the Lothal evidence. Examples of human burials in association with animal remains are also found from the archaeological records, which indicate specialized ritualistic practices among the ancient cultures. The above discussion may indicate that not only do the Symbolic burials provide example of factors of symbolism, but the other modes of disposal of dead, mentioned here, bring forth aspects of a typical pattern or symbolism followed in interring the dead focusing on belief in afterlife. With this view in mind few pre early Harappan and Harappan sites would be studied and the usual pattern followed in these sites would be studied to bring out an aspect of symbolism. Example of a Few Sites in the Pre-Early Harappan Period Santhli The settlement at Santhli is locally known as “Gachi-na-thumdo” and is designated as Santhli II by the excavators of M.S. University, Baroda (Ingenjörsfirman Anders Rundgren [IAR], 1993-1994, p. 25). It is located in the district Banaskantha of Gujarat. The excavation brought to light a habitation deposit of nearly 40 cm, which is sub-divided into two cultural occupations, viz. Period I (Mesolithic) and Period II (Chalcolithic II) (IAR 1993-1994, p. 25-27). Period I is represented by the presence of both geometric and non-geometric microliths (IAR 1993-1994, p.
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