Burials

* Karen Wright errs in saying that “all human cultures recognize the sanctity of human remains and burial” (Opinion, Oct. 31). The Greek historian Herodotus used sharply contrasting mortuary practices (cremation versus ritual cannibalism) to illustrate cultural relativism and ethnocentrism. Even among native North Americans burial, though common, was not universal: Some peoples cremated and some exposed or abandoned corpses to the elements and wild animals.

In time, however, Christian influence did largely eliminate the alternatives to burial. Fear of the spirits of the dead was (and is) often more of a consideration than notions of sanctity.

DONALD E. BROWN

Prof. of Anthropology, Emeritus

Santa Barbara