According to anthropologist Pascal Boyer, which sequence is a common pattern in dual funerals?

According to anthropologist Pascal Boyer, which sequence is a common pattern in dual funerals?

• A. The body is buried, then disinterred later for another ritual.
• B. The body is cremated, then buried.
• C. The body is left unburied and forgotten.
• D. The body is preserved as a relic.

Answer: (A)

Two-stage mortuary practice is what Boyer describes in dual funerals: the living perform a second rite on the remains after the initial burial. The body is laid to rest, and later it is disinterred for another ritual, which reinterprets or relocates the deceased within the community’s social and religious life. This sequence keeps the dead present and influential across time, reinforcing kin ties and beliefs about continuation of personhood through ritual transformation. The initial burial establishes the first ceremonial act, while the subsequent exhumation and second ritual reframe the deceased’s role and status in the ongoing social order. That two-step process—bury first, then disinter later for another ritual—best captures the pattern Boyer identifies as dual funerals.

Two-stage mortuary practice is what Boyer describes in dual funerals: the living perform a second rite on the remains after the initial burial. The body is laid to rest, and later it is disinterred for another ritual, which reinterprets or relocates the deceased within the community’s social and religious life. This sequence keeps the dead present and influential across time, reinforcing kin ties and beliefs about continuation of personhood through ritual transformation. The initial burial establishes the first ceremonial act, while the subsequent exhumation and second ritual reframe the deceased’s role and status in the ongoing social order. That two-step process—bury first, then disinter later for another ritual—best captures the pattern Boyer identifies as dual funerals.