Summary: Death and Burial Customs
Key dates:
Burials and cremations were both used in this period. Many graves had only one remains but some have many corpses often in a crouched position, usually lying on their sides. This was necessary because of these smaller graves although there may have been some ceremonial function. Some crouched burials were found in pits rather than in cists.
Cremation seems to have become more fashionable and there is evidence that bodies were kept for a collective cremation on a funeral pyre. Often the burnt bone pieces were placed in pottery urns and then put in the cist.
Grave goods were found in most of the cists. These include flint knives and scrapers and some bone pins. Pygmy cups and bowls were also found in the cists. In these cists there were many examples of pottery in the shape of beakers and these people were known as “Beaker” people.
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