Prehistoric India to 1000 B.C. c14.112

c14.112

The *Rigveda* evidence for burial traditions is almost confined to a single funeral hymn (x, 18). There is reason to believe that in the early Aryan phase inhumation and cremation were alternative rites existing side by side, though the latter was soon to become dominant. The hymn describes an inhumation ceremony in which the warrior's bow is taken from his hand as he lies in the grave, and he is committed to Mother Earth with the moving lines -