The dead, depending on their sex, were equipped with items deemed necessary for the final journey – ornaments and weapons, which were burned alongside the body on the pyre. These objects were then submitted to a puzzling ritual of destruction (they were most often bent out of shape) so they would “die” together with their owner – it was believed that only after being destroyed could they be used in the afterlife.
The dead, depending on their sex, were equipped with items deemed necessary for the final journey – ornaments and weapons, which were burned alongside the body on the pyre. These objects were then submitted to a puzzling ritual of destruction (they were most often bent out of shape) so they would “die” together with their owner – it was believed that only after being destroyed could they be used in the afterlife.
