ABSTRACT
Rituals of death of one kind or another appear about as old as culture itself, and while their original meanings can defy ready interpretation their presence in early human history and prehistory is ubiquitous. The dying needed to be prepared in particular for the journey into an afterlife in which human beings through the ages have largely believed. Funeral rites of one kind or another appear to be as old as the human species. In the middle Ages, the funeral procession and all the other customs and rituals relating to death came under the authority of the church and are conducted with an air of solemnity. Rites of passage are a category of rituals that mark the passages of an individual through the life cycle, from one stage to another over time, integrating the human and cultural experiences with biological destiny: birth, reproduction and death.
