Secondary burial

[9] Secondary burial may occur after a primary funeral ceremony, during which there is additional manipulation of the human remains.

For examples, in the mortuary practices of the Neolithic Anatolian site of Çatalhöyük, secondary reburial of the skull of one individual with another occurred.

[1] Archaeologists identify a secondary burial works as a negative process, characterized by the absence of certain elements.

This damage may either be caused by natural processes (earthquake, flood, weathering, and erosion), animals (usually rodents but also snakes) may have burrowed and destroyed, or stolen and moved bones, or through human actions unrelated to the burial or funerary tradition (construction, grave robbing, farming).

Instances of defleshing with blades have been interpreted as signs of cannibals when bones were cut or cleaned in a deliberate manner.

[1][8][11] Artificial mounds and other, clearly visible, above-ground structures have been re-used since the New Stone Age (and even in later times, often by much later cultures) for burials of bodies, bones or cremated remains (in urns).

the re-use of the interior space available was usually closer in time to the original burial (e.g. by the Globular Amphora culture), if necessary also accompanied by the removal or addition of secondary chambers (as in the Megalithic tombs of Hagestad).

Secondary burial in the Holy Land involved an initial interment in a tomb, for example, prone on a bench, until the body decayed.

This practice of secondary burial should be distinguished from the continual use of natural caves, even when this falls during the same historical period, because they did not involve artificially constructed monuments.

Much of the recordings of burial ceremonies were from the observations of explorers, missionaries, and administrative personnel who lived amongst native peoples.

[9] However, it is important to note that neither Hertz, Schärer, or Stöher lived amongst these native people, leaving room for misinterpretation and bias.

The unique characteristics and frequency of secondary burials are often used to help identify and characterize past settlements.

[9] These traditions have left a strong impression on people's minds today, and hence have affected how we view past cultures in general.