He also argues that this period saw the development of an ancestor cult in Britain, resulting in the deposition of the dead in barrows, including the large long barrows such as Fussell's Lodge.
12.
Many archaeologists have suggested that this is because Early Neolithic people adhered to an ancestor cult that venerated the spirits of the dead, believing that they could intercede with the forces of nature for the benefit of their living descendants.
13.
A more commonly accepted theory is that there was an ancestor cult of sorts, since there is evidence of both the bodies traveling with the groups and placed in positions of honor during major rituals and a delay in the final burial itself.
14.
Proceeding to focus on the Late Neolithic society of Orkney, he discusses the village of Skara Brae and the various ceremonial monuments in the region, such as Maes Howe and Stenness, arguing for the existence of an ancestor cult and totemistic beliefs.
15.
Objects from the archaeological record may also be interpreted as depictions of subjects from Norse mythology, such as amulets of the god Thor's hammer Mj�lnir found among pagan burials and small silver female figures interpreted as valkyries or d�sir, beings associated with war, fate or ancestor cults.
16.
Followers of a unique complex of beliefs and practices that may include universism ( yin / yang cosmology with dualities earth / heaven, evil / good, darkness / light ), ancestor cult, Confucian ethics, divination, festivals, folk religion, goddess worship, household gods, local deities, mediums, metaphysics, monasteries, neo-Confucianism, popular religion, sacrifices, shamans, spirit-writing, and Daoist ( Taoist ) and Buddhist elements.
