Surprising discovery in Norway

Secrets in stone: Rare archaeological find in Norway

ScienceDaily (2011-01-31) -- It looked to be a routine excavation of what was thought to be a burial mound. But beneath the mound, archaeologists from Norway found something more: unusual Bronze Age petroglyphs. ... > read full article

In a mortuary sense this burial is very interesting. The researchers for this site believe that this mound was both a place of death but also rebirth. However i'm not certain how one can tell if a past culture believed in rebirth. In this example they are associating petroglyphs with the idea of Gods and rebirth. I would also associate cremation with the idea of a rebirth of the soul. If the cultrue in question believed that the soul resided in the body and therefore had to escape the body after death, then the use of cremation would aid the soul in escaping. We know that they cremated and then buried there dead, but why practice both for one burial? Unless you are aiding the soul's escape from the body and then returning the body to the Earth.