ve people to search for the man who has inflicted
death on his fellow.

It would, of course, be absurd to pretend that any people could fail to
recognize the reality of death in the great majority of cases. The mere
fact of burial is an indication of this. But the point of difference
between the views of these early men and ourselves, was the tacit
assumption on the part of the former, that in spite of the obvious
changes in his body (which made inhumation or some other procedure
necessary) the deceased was still continuing an existence not unlike
that which he enjoyed previously, only somewhat duller, less eventful
and more precarious. He still needed food and drink, as he did before,
and all the paraphernalia of his mortal life, but he was dependent upon
his relatives for the maintenance of his existence.

Such views were difficult of acceptance by a thoughtful people, once
they appreciated the fact of the disintegration of the corpse in the
grave; and in course of time it was regarded as essential for continued
existence that the body should be preserved. The idea developed, that so
long as the body of the deceased was preserved and there were restored
to it all the elements of vitality which it had lost at death, the
continuance of existence was theoretically possible and worthy of
acceptance as an article of faith.

Let us consider for a moment what were considered to be elements of
vitality by the earliest members of our species.[251]

From the remotest times man seems to have been aware of the fact that he
could kill animals or his fellow men by means of certain physical
injuries. He associated these results with the effusion of blood. The
loss of blood could cause unconsciousness and death. Blood, therefore,
must be the vehicle of consciousness and life, the material whose escape
from the body could bring life to an end.[252]

The first pictures painted by man, with which we are at present
acquainted, are found upon the walls and roofs of certain caves in
Southern France and Spain. They were the work of the earliest known
representatives of our own species, _Homo sapiens_, in the phase of
culture now distinguished by the name "Aurignacian".

The animals man was in the habit of hunting for food are depicted.[253]
In some of them arrows are shown implanted in the animal's flank near
the region of the heart; and in others the heart itself is represented.

This implies that at this distant time in the history