PREHISTORIC MORTUARY PRACTICE: BELIEF AND SOCIAL STATUS

Abstract

Most evidence from the excavation of prehistoric archeology sites in Thailand comes from the burial sites. There are three types of Mortuary Practice , as follow

1.Primary Burial : This is the general type of mortuary practice that is found in every part of Thailand . They will bury the dead body by laying it down in a pit. Some bodies are turned face up and some are placed on their side. In the burial type, the human bones will be found laying anatomically correct. Sometimes dead infants are found buried in the pottery called burial jar.

2.Secondary Burial : This type brings some parts of the bones form the primary burial, and puts them in a big pottery jar for a ritual before being buried back in the pit.

3.Cremitions : This is the one of the most important evolutions of the ancient community that changed the traditional ritual. This evolution makes the change of a prehistoric community to historical community.

Archaeologists can study the social status of the skeletons from the Mortuary Practice. They study evidence found the excavation pit with the skeleton. If the burial pit has various artifacts, then they can assume that dead people would have had a good social status when they were still alive.