A high caste cremation, indicated by the use of a carved wooden bull as the receptacle

Granted the currency of beliefs of this sort, they may be made to seem factual through elaboration in myth and symbolism, and Geertz (C.Geertz 1966b) has suggested how this may be achieved in religion. The difficulty remains that certain social institutions are founded upon premises which may either be untestable in principle, as Cooper has argued for the Azande (Cooper 1975:244-6) or are demonstrably misrepresentative (Bloch 1975a and in press). To the extent that beliefs justifying economic or political inequality are open to question or negation, this may pose a threat to the acceptance of the established system. It also raises the question of how these assumptions are validated and protected from doubt or denial.