article_snippet: Archaeologists leading the research believe cleaning of the dead was probably the culmination of a protracted multi-stage burial process.
article_snippet: In 3,800BC a young couple were buried together in a final embrace that was hoped to keep a young couple together for all eternity.
article_snippet: This area was occasionally inhabited and used to keep livestock but was also were farmers from the surrounding area placed livestock dead.
article_snippet: The ritual could have been similar to the Huron Feast of the Dead in North America, where the buried remains of dead relatives were dug up, cleaned and then reburied when the village moved location.
article_snippet: Dr Robb and Robb colleagues said it appeared there may be a link between the pottery placed in the cave the ritual burials in the upper chamber.
article_snippet: Dr Robb and his colleagues said disposing of bones in this way may have marked an end to the mourning.
article_snippet: Speaking to Mail Online, Robb said: 'Dr Robb and his colleagues had a remarkable variety of burial practices, which often created prolonged interactions with the dead. '
article_snippet: It seems likely that producing clean bone was the end point of a longer ritual of mourning. '
article_snippet: But it probably was an occasion for the community to come together and remember the dead.'