October 2, 2026 • 8 mins
Death . . the word makes us uneasy but we’re all sort of intrigued by it, thus our love of true crime, horror, mysteries, and graveyards. Death is the one thing we all have to face that we simply can’t rationally explain. Going back thousands of years it was the same for all humans. How do we celebrate a life . . . and dispose of the body?
Feel free to DM me if you have a story you’d like me to cover . . on Facebook it’s Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Death. It's actually a pretty interesting topic if you can
get past the dread part of it. I think it's
why we watch scary movies, read horror novels, stare at
accident scenes, and if you're like me, occasionally wander through
old cemeteries. We're trying to understand something that's unknowable. It
doesn't matter where you come from or how much money
(00:21):
you have, there's no escaping the death experience. At least
not yet. What's really fascinating are all the rituals that
the folks left behind have clung to over thousands of years.
I'm Patti Steele. Those rituals included everything from a feast
for vultures to sending the departed out to sea on
a special ship. That's all next on The Backstory. We're
(00:47):
back with The Backstory. There's something fascinating about how we
process death. It's probably why we like scary movies, cop shows,
true crime, horror novels, you name it. Personally, as weird
as it sounds, I love walking through old cemeteries and
reading the gravestones. The farther back you go, the more
descriptive those stones get. They tell a story that people
(01:09):
left behind had nowhere else to express their feelings. We
honor someone we've lost, celebrate them, and find a way
to put some finality into their story. It's been that
way since humans became aware of their own imminent demise.
Scientists say no other animal has a clear, abstract concept
of their own future. So from ancient Egyptian tombs to
(01:32):
Viking funerals, from medieval churchyards to modern celebrations of life,
death rituals tell us a lot about what different societies
believed regarding family, religion, the afterlife, and why the heck
we're here in the first place. What's really interesting is
archaeologists have found evidence of ritualized burials going back tens
(01:53):
of thousands of years. They didn't just want to dispose
of the body, of course. They wanted to keep the
bodies of family and friends from being devoured by animals.
But they also seemed to want to celebrate those lives.
In some of those ancient graves, objects were placed next
to the dead, like tools, jewelry, and other personal things.
(02:14):
They may not have understood what was coming next, but
they were trying to take care of their person as
their journey continued. But forget your standard burial. Going back
thousands of years, the ancient Egyptians had some pretty elaborate
ideas about death and the afterlife. They believed that death
wasn't necessarily the end of a person's existence, but a
(02:36):
sort of transition into another form of life. So they
wanted to preserve the body after death, and they did
it with mummification. It was actually a really well-researched process
and amazingly effective. Why did they do it? Well, the
Egyptians thought that maintaining the body was important so the
departed could continue into the afterlife. They'd even bury them
(02:59):
with food, clothing, jewelry, furniture, and more. And if you
were a pharaoh or some other elite type, they'd frequently
kill your slaves and bury them with you so you'd
have someone to serve you in the afterlife. Yikes. The
pyramids were, of course, Egyptian tombs for big shots. They
weren't just giant monuments, but part of an elaborate complex
(03:20):
designed to support the dead king's forward journey. So in Egypt,
death rituals combined religion, family, social status, and political power.
Maybe not so different than today, right? A little further forward,
we get to the ancient Greeks and Romans who had
their own death traditions. In Greece, they also believed that
life continued after death. Funerals involved washing and dressing the body,
(03:44):
displaying it for mourners, and carrying it in a funeral procession. Then,
depending on the period, they either buried the body or
cremated it. Roman funerals were kind of a big party,
involving elaborate public events, especially if the dead person came
from a rich family. Funeral processions frequently included musicians, dancers,
(04:05):
and people sobbing while carrying images of their ancestors. For
important Romans, funerals were opportunities to publicly show off the
family's history, their wealth, and status. So funerals weren't just
about the person who had died. They were also about
the people left behind. One of the most fascinating cultures
when it came to death were the Vikings. Both cremation
(04:28):
and burial were a thing, depending on the time you lived.
But there was another tradition that really gets people's attention.
It's called the ship burial. Some high-end folks were actually
buried in ships or, on occasion, ship-shaped graves. There would
be weapons, jewelry, animals, and other items sent off with them.
(04:48):
They believed the ship would safely carry the person to Valhalla,
the afterlife. Sometimes they were sent out to sea. Other times,
a massive grave would hold the entire funeral ship, and
they were huge. In fact, there's a museum in Oslo, Norway,
that contains the really well-preserved 9th century Oseberg Viking ship
(05:09):
that was the funeral vessel for two powerful Viking women.
On board with them were pieces of furniture, artwork, clothing, dishes, carts,
and even several sleighs so they could get where they
were going once they were back in life. And this
entire thing was buried in a mound. Now, in medieval Europe,
(05:30):
funerals began to look a little more like what we
know today. People were mostly buried in coffins. Funeral rituals
might include prayers, religious services, processions, and periods of mourning.
And wealthy or important folks might be buried inside churches
or in large, fancy tombs, while ordinary folks were usually
buried in the churchyard. On our side of the planet,
(05:53):
in North, Central, and South America, different cultures developed their
own traditions. Most involved the belief in multiple gods and
some sort of afterlife. In ancient China, again, there were
elaborate tombs with burial objects that reflected the belief that
life would go on. In Tibet, some practice sky burials
(06:13):
in which the body was placed on a mountaintop where
it could be eaten by vultures. It reflected the belief
among the Buddhists and Zoroastrianists that the body was just
an empty vessel once the soul had departed, so it
was about donating the body to feed animals as an
act of compassion. What's interesting is, all over the earth,
(06:34):
people had different ways of doing the same thing when
it came to death. They honor the individual, and they
dispose of the body. Today, we still remember, but modern
technology has created new possibilities. We can now preserve ashes
in jewelry, create digital memorials, live stream funerals, or maintain
online pages dedicated to someone who has died. We even,
(06:57):
in some cases, shoot them up into the stars. A
lot of people have a celebration of life rather than
a funeral. Something I did for my parents. Lots of storytelling, laughter, music, poetry,
and beverages. But are we all just trying to control
the uncontrollable? Maybe. But the desire to remember the people
who came before us is there. And maybe that's what
(07:20):
makes the history of death rituals so interesting. They provide
a way for the living to respond to loss. By
studying how people have said goodbye throughout history, we're not
just learning about the dead. We're learning about the living.
I hope you're enjoying the backstory with Patty Steele. Please
leave a review and follow or subscribe for free to
(07:41):
get new episodes delivered automatically. And feel free to DM
me if you have a story you'd like me to cover.
On Facebook, it's Patty Steele. And on Instagram, Real Patty Steele.
I'm Patti Steele. The Backstory is a production of iHeartMedia,
(08:02):
Premier Networks, The Elvis Duran Group, and Steel Trap Productions.
Our producer is Mike Peseglia. Our writer is Jake Kushner.
New episodes are out every Tuesday and Friday. And feel
free to reach out to me with comments and story
suggestions on Instagram at RealPattiSteele and on Facebook at Patti Steele.
Thanks for listening to The Backstory with Patti Steele. The
(08:24):
pieces of history you didn't know you needed to know.
Death. It's actually a pretty interesting topic if you can
get past the dread part of it. I think it's
why we watch scary movies, read horror novels, stare at
accident scenes, and if you're like me, occasionally wander through
old cemeteries. We're trying to understand something that's unknowable. It
doesn't matter where you come from or how much money
(00:21):
you have, there's no escaping the death experience. At least
not yet. What's really fascinating are all the rituals that
the folks left behind have clung to over thousands of years.
I'm Patti Steele. Those rituals included everything from a feast
for vultures to sending the departed out to sea on
a special ship. That's all next on The Backstory. We're
(00:47):
back with The Backstory. There's something fascinating about how we
process death. It's probably why we like scary movies, cop shows,
true crime, horror novels, you name it. Personally, as weird
as it sounds, I love walking through old cemeteries and
reading the gravestones. The farther back you go, the more
descriptive those stones get. They tell a story that people
(01:09):
left behind had nowhere else to express their feelings. We
honor someone we've lost, celebrate them, and find a way
to put some finality into their story. It's been that
way since humans became aware of their own imminent demise.
Scientists say no other animal has a clear, abstract concept
of their own future. So from ancient Egyptian tombs to
(01:32):
Viking funerals, from medieval churchyards to modern celebrations of life,
death rituals tell us a lot about what different societies
believed regarding family, religion, the afterlife, and why the heck
we're here in the first place. What's really interesting is
archaeologists have found evidence of ritualized burials going back tens
(01:53):
of thousands of years. They didn't just want to dispose
of the body, of course. They wanted to keep the
bodies of family and friends from being devoured by animals.
But they also seemed to want to celebrate those lives.
In some of those ancient graves, objects were placed next
to the dead, like tools, jewelry, and other personal things.
(02:14):
They may not have understood what was coming next, but
they were trying to take care of their person as
their journey continued. But forget your standard burial. Going back
thousands of years, the ancient Egyptians had some pretty elaborate
ideas about death and the afterlife. They believed that death
wasn't necessarily the end of a person's existence, but a
(02:36):
sort of transition into another form of life. So they
wanted to preserve the body after death, and they did
it with mummification. It was actually a really well-researched process
and amazingly effective. Why did they do it? Well, the
Egyptians thought that maintaining the body was important so the
departed could continue into the afterlife. They'd even bury them
(02:59):
with food, clothing, jewelry, furniture, and more. And if you
were a pharaoh or some other elite type, they'd frequently
kill your slaves and bury them with you so you'd
have someone to serve you in the afterlife. Yikes. The
pyramids were, of course, Egyptian tombs for big shots. They
weren't just giant monuments, but part of an elaborate complex
(03:20):
designed to support the dead king's forward journey. So in Egypt,
death rituals combined religion, family, social status, and political power.
Maybe not so different than today, right? A little further forward,
we get to the ancient Greeks and Romans who had
their own death traditions. In Greece, they also believed that
life continued after death. Funerals involved washing and dressing the body,
(03:44):
displaying it for mourners, and carrying it in a funeral procession. Then,
depending on the period, they either buried the body or
cremated it. Roman funerals were kind of a big party,
involving elaborate public events, especially if the dead person came
from a rich family. Funeral processions frequently included musicians, dancers,
(04:05):
and people sobbing while carrying images of their ancestors. For
important Romans, funerals were opportunities to publicly show off the
family's history, their wealth, and status. So funerals weren't just
about the person who had died. They were also about
the people left behind. One of the most fascinating cultures
when it came to death were the Vikings. Both cremation
(04:28):
and burial were a thing, depending on the time you lived.
But there was another tradition that really gets people's attention.
It's called the ship burial. Some high-end folks were actually
buried in ships or, on occasion, ship-shaped graves. There would
be weapons, jewelry, animals, and other items sent off with them.
(04:48):
They believed the ship would safely carry the person to Valhalla,
the afterlife. Sometimes they were sent out to sea. Other times,
a massive grave would hold the entire funeral ship, and
they were huge. In fact, there's a museum in Oslo, Norway,
that contains the really well-preserved 9th century Oseberg Viking ship
(05:09):
that was the funeral vessel for two powerful Viking women.
On board with them were pieces of furniture, artwork, clothing, dishes, carts,
and even several sleighs so they could get where they
were going once they were back in life. And this
entire thing was buried in a mound. Now, in medieval Europe,
(05:30):
funerals began to look a little more like what we
know today. People were mostly buried in coffins. Funeral rituals
might include prayers, religious services, processions, and periods of mourning.
And wealthy or important folks might be buried inside churches
or in large, fancy tombs, while ordinary folks were usually
buried in the churchyard. On our side of the planet,
(05:53):
in North, Central, and South America, different cultures developed their
own traditions. Most involved the belief in multiple gods and
some sort of afterlife. In ancient China, again, there were
elaborate tombs with burial objects that reflected the belief that
life would go on. In Tibet, some practice sky burials
(06:13):
in which the body was placed on a mountaintop where
it could be eaten by vultures. It reflected the belief
among the Buddhists and Zoroastrianists that the body was just
an empty vessel once the soul had departed, so it
was about donating the body to feed animals as an
act of compassion. What's interesting is, all over the earth,
(06:34):
people had different ways of doing the same thing when
it came to death. They honor the individual, and they
dispose of the body. Today, we still remember, but modern
technology has created new possibilities. We can now preserve ashes
in jewelry, create digital memorials, live stream funerals, or maintain
online pages dedicated to someone who has died. We even,
(06:57):
in some cases, shoot them up into the stars. A
lot of people have a celebration of life rather than
a funeral. Something I did for my parents. Lots of storytelling, laughter, music, poetry,
and beverages. But are we all just trying to control
the uncontrollable? Maybe. But the desire to remember the people
who came before us is there. And maybe that's what
(07:20):
makes the history of death rituals so interesting. They provide
a way for the living to respond to loss. By
studying how people have said goodbye throughout history, we're not
just learning about the dead. We're learning about the living.
I hope you're enjoying the backstory with Patty Steele. Please
leave a review and follow or subscribe for free to
(07:41):
get new episodes delivered automatically. And feel free to DM
me if you have a story you'd like me to cover.
On Facebook, it's Patty Steele. And on Instagram, Real Patty Steele.
I'm Patti Steele. The Backstory is a production of iHeartMedia,
(08:02):
Premier Networks, The Elvis Duran Group, and Steel Trap Productions.
Our producer is Mike Peseglia. Our writer is Jake Kushner.
New episodes are out every Tuesday and Friday. And feel
free to reach out to me with comments and story
suggestions on Instagram at RealPattiSteele and on Facebook at Patti Steele.
Thanks for listening to The Backstory with Patti Steele. The
(08:24):
pieces of history you didn't know you needed to know.
Host
Patty Steele
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