CrowdScience: Why Do We Bury Our Dead?

The ritual of burying the dead stretches back to the obscure beginnings of human history - and even beyond, with archaeologists uncovering evidence of burials that pre-date our own species.

But why do we bury our dead? How important is it, and does it have any evolutionary advantages? Our listener Moses began pondering these questions after travelling across Uganda to attend his grandfather’s funeral, and asked CrowdScience to look into the subject.

We search for clues in a cave in France, where a 60,000 year old Neanderthal skeleton was found - thought to be one of the earliest burial sites on earth - and explore how burial practices around the world today compare to those of our ancestors.

Is it fundamentally a matter of hygiene, or are social, religious and symbolic impulses to bury the dead just as important? And how do other ways of dealing with human remains, such as cremation and Tibetan sky burial, fit into the picture?

• Presented by Anand Jagatia
• Produced by Cathy Edwards for the BBC World Service

Publicity contact: EM3