The Life of Death Symbols

     Human culture includes the use of symbolism, and how people represent these symbols. Many cultures share similar traditons even though, but perhaps with some diffusion, these cultures have never met. An example would be in Brazil they have a specialized festival called "Carnivale" and in the U.S state of New Orleans they celebrate Mardi Gras, both at the same time, essentially unrelated, but carrying the same purpose. The history of these celebrations can be traced, but what do we do about symbolism that reference a question that cannot be traced, such as why did Neandertal bury their dead? How did these proposed traditions in death come to life? I speculate that most uses of symbolism come from something real and are made to be unreal over time. When examining physical evidence, one might overlook the obvious in exchange of something spectacular conjured from the mind of a cultural theorist as to why a society might complete a certain act, such as burying their dead with flowers, like the Neandertal of Shanidar Cave in Iraq. I am not making a point that these Neandertal were not capable of imagining something out of this world, but I am concerned with the true nature of how Neandertal, and modern human alike, came to be using symbols in death, if that is in fact what has been done.
     Neandertal and humans have both been shown to have buried their dead using Red Ochre, a more clear sign of symbolism by both groups, but ochre is shown to have deodorizing effects. It is easy to imagine the practicality of deodorizing a corpse in a time when perhaps more predators were in the region and it is also easy to imagine how perhaps the scent of a flower might lead a hominid being to believe that it may contain the ability to prevent scents from spreading, like those of a corpse. These items may not produce "real" results but they bore from real ideas, with an actual thought process behind them. The cultural symbols that were seen may have been bi-product of real event history and ideas involving a higher level of intellect. Our human habits and traditions in death today, might have also been the bi-product of similar ideas that have lasted generations and could have preceeded religous practice, that is practicality preceeded symbolism not the other way around.

Wakey Wakey Eggs 'n' Bakey

   Since being out here on the West Coast, I've noticed one major difference culturally in funerary traditions and how death is handled in amongst the people. I have attended many funerals, most of which have been on the East Coast of Canada in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The practice of having a traditional wake is still prevalent there, although I did notice a decline when many of my younger acquaintances passed, albeit only a few funerals were of this modern style replacing the tradition. From my understanding the wake is practiced by people of Irish descent, amongst other, so it makes sense for that to occur in an area where a large portion of the general population are in fact Irish.
   The decline of the wake I would attribute to communication and commercialization affecting the populations more traditional practices. The ease of having a funeral at a newly constructed funeral home has caused the practice of the wake to decrease. Financially the funeral home is becoming less burdening on the family, and provides assurance that the body will be handled with professional care, depending on the funeral package purchased. Competition between evolving funeral homes can be seen as a key factor in the declining costs. Contrary to the popularity of the funeral home, wakes are still held in spite of the ease and access on the East Coast. These wakes require the body to be viewed primarily in the family home of the deceased although sometimes allocated to a close relative or friend's home. Family and friends, and all other who wonder off the street at the site of a crowd, gather and instead of wholly embracing the mournful portion of death they also engage in laughter, take in alcohol and food, and generally celebrate the life of the deceased, almost including the dead in the event as if they were present as a living being. For me this was almost comforting, as not only did it acknowledge the passing of a friend, but also brought to life the people in the room- like looking death in the eye and shaking his hand while smiling.
   Funeral practices on the West Coast seem to have inhereted the "modern" funeral practice. There is limited criticism from me because I understand the full scope of why somebody would do this; moreover, the practice of a wake may not even be a popular event in the past for areas such as British Columbia, as there may be a declining belief in the practice the further that one escape from its country of origin, putting aside local practices that I may not be familiar with.
   I wonder if it is the commercialization of funeral eliminating traditonal practices (not particularily the Irish Wake), or if it is people viewing the modern funeral as a way of escaping death? Are the practices of events such as a wake stunted by the views of the surrounding populations and their popular perceptions?

My Intro to Death

My name is Daniel, I grew up in St. John's Newfoundland and am enjoying my time on the West Coast now permanently. I like the idea of being able to travel to where there is snow, and not actually having to be trapped in my house because of a five foot drop the night before. I try to do as much as I can outdoors to take advantage of British Columbia's natural activities, and if I see a sun I am guaranteed to take advantage of it.

I'm in my fourth year of my Anthropology degree, and have a general interest in all physical anthropology and archaeology, but I do tend to have an extended interest in the osteological aspect of the subject area. I'm pretty stoked to be finished my BA but I wouldn't mind coming back to school and perhaps working on another degree while I'm here in Victoria.

Death has never been an area that has brought me any sort of distress, whether be it in school or throughout my life. Death is one of our only guarantees in life and it is an interesting topic to study as it can be seen as, aside from birth,  our only true unifying subject cross culturally. What is interesting is how people handle death through ritual and symbolism, if they do that at all. I think there are certain people who not only have an interest but as well have the actual ability to deal with death on a day to day basis. This course offers seems to offer an easily understandable introduction into the full aspect of how death is dealt with personally and socially between groups.