[11] 



PRIMITIVE CONCEPTS REGARDING 

 THE DEAD 



Xhe present chapter is an attempt to trace the evolution of 

 the primeval mentality and reactions toward the dead in the 

 belief that it is important in understanding the development of 

 human dissection. 



The definition of death as here used is the following: the 

 "cause or occasion of loss of life." Probably prehistoric man 

 puzzled more on this phenomenon than he did on any other 

 theme. Because of his intellectual status, it was more of a mystery 

 to him and his explanation as to its cause was unique and dif- 

 ferent than ours. Death has always been of more than passing 

 interest to all generations of mankind; there are those who be- 

 lieve that both religion and philosophy are nothing more than 

 meditation upon it (Metchnikoff, '07). One thing which seems 

 to be certain is that the idea of the inevitability of death is a 

 human acquisition. Some animals, like horses and steers, shrink 

 from seeing dead bodies but they have no notion that it is an 

 eventuality. 



The nearest physiological event occurring naturally during 

 life, with which the primitive mind could compare death, was 

 sleep. So he called the former the "long sleep." He could see, 

 however, that it was of a different kind. His earliest experience 

 with it consisted of observing a tribal member, perhaps a rela- 

 tive, lying cold and silent, clammy to the touch, with glazed eyes 

 staring into space. By contrast to normal slumber, he found that 

 such an individual could not be aroused. The over-all picture 

 was such that the presence of the dead filled him with terror, a 

 powerful impulse to flee which he did, thus leaving the body to 

 be ravaged by beasts of prey. Flight and total neglect of the 



