
Megaliths
In Our Time: History
00:00
The Origins of Grave Goods in the Early Neolithic
There isn't a huge amount of evidence for grave goods in the early Neolithic. In the later Neolithic we get some cremations that have got very fine objects with them, such as polished stone mace heads. These items seem to have been symbols of status and power. Were the people specially designed to look after burials, the equivalent of priests? I suspect there were specialists who were allowed to go into some of these tombs and interact with the dead.
Transcript
Play full episode