Note 97 — Chapter V · CAVES OF THE NEOLITHIC AGE.

Burial in the contracted posture, which is so characteristic of the neolithic age, was probably due, as is suggested by my friend Mr. John Evans, F.R.S., to the habit of sleeping in that posture and not at full length on a bed. The body was not laid out after death, but may have been folded together, as in the case of the ancient Peruvian mummies. No regularity, however, in the contracted posture could be observed in the many tumuli and caves which I have explored, although very generally the corpse had been interred on its side.