Sepulture

Sepulture, despite the wide belief of otherwise, is not thing, but an act. The word is often used synonymously with “sepulchre” which is a type of tomb; this is inaccurate. Sepulture is the act of burying the dead, i.e., burial in general. It can be used in both noun and verb form, such as “to sepulture” or “his/her sepulture”, –the possessive noun form of the process of which he or she is buried. The process of burial was once remarked upon by the renowned linguist, and anthropologist, Philip Lieberman, who said it signified “a concern for the dead that transcends daily life.” Other opinions are that the process of interment reflected some early health issues, or the earliest forms of religion.

Either way, the first undisputed act of intentional burial was over 130,000 years ago. The skeletal remains were found coated in red ochre which seemed to signify some form of religious ceremony, or cultural custom. The bodies were also accompanied by “grave goods”, –food, possessions, etc., and included the mandible of a wild boar, which one skeleton held its arms. The site was located in Qafzeh, Israel. There are earlier instances of what appears to be intentional burial, but there’s a debate as to whether or not the bodies were buried for other reasons, –the individuals being of the earliest hominid, Neanderthals, who buried the bodies in shallow, trench-like graves accompanying the bodies with tools and animal bones.

For whatever reasons, whether religious, cultural, or even for the earliest form of health concerns, burial has quite caught on. It’s still one of the most popular ways to dispose of a deceased individual. However, it’s quickly losing its popularity, due to modern health reasons, land development and preservation, and issues regarding possible pollution. Cremation is gradually becoming more prominent, as well as other alternatives to burial, –which are discussed on another page.