Extra: Additional Death Rituals

Question 1

The Catacombs

Answer 1

Roman Catacombs:
- Tied to Jewish and Christian communities
- Huge burial caves, tunnels underground
- Needed to preserve bodies, so they created the catacombs
Paris Catacombs:
- The Plague started spreading diseases and toxins from the burial sites of people who died from the Plague
- They exhumed a bunch of bodies and piled their bones underground

Question 2

Dani Tribe of Indonesia - Finger Amputation

Answer 2

• Female members only!!
• They tied a string around the finger to cut off blood flow and then had their finger tip bitten or cut off
• There is no age limit, so sometimes baby girls had it happen to them
• Cathartic experience to signify grief and loss

Question 3

Zoroastrian Tower of Silence

Answer 3

• Dead bodies were seen as dirty and impure with no purpose
• They were wrapped in bull urine, which was seen as pure
• They were then left out in a pile for vultures to eat
• Only few people could go near and do the rituals on the bodies

Question 4

Igorot Tribe of Philippines - Hanging Coffins

Answer 4

• Hanging tiny coffins of off a cliff
• They were put in a fetal position to signify that we leave the world the way we came into it
• It was also used as a practical way to store dead bodies that we were preserving since the area they lived was known to flood