Cro-Magnon Culture: Burying the Dead

More than 100,000 years ago, Neanderthals started burying their dead. At about the same time, Cro-Magnon also appeared.

When a Cro-Magnon died the body was not simply abandoned and left to rot in the open. 

The Cro-Magnons buried their dead in or near the caves and huts in which they lived.

Cro-Magnon buried dead body with food, ornaments and weapons. They also used pigments to decorate the dead. Such burial activity suggests that Cro-Magnon were developing a religion.

They were anticipating a new life in the world beyond this one, because they were buried in their beaded clothes, along with their tools, weapons, jewelry and favorite possessions.

In many burials, daubed red ochre has been found scattered over the corpse.
Cro-Magnon Culture: Burying the Dead