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→Origin of Cremation
Cremation emerges as common phenomenon in the Bronze Age (about 5000-4000 years ago) in Europe and South Asia. In central and northern Europe, cultures from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age (about 3000 years ago) appear to switch at times from burial to cremation. This could be because of changing cultures due to invasions and migrations that occurred. The Myceneans generally preferred inhumation, while later Greeks did practice cremation, likely influenced by Anatolian cultures that also were influenced by Iranian and Indian cultures (i.e., the Indo-Aryan migrations that occurred in the 2nd millennium BCE).<ref>For more on the spread of cremation practices by Indo-Aryans, see: Parpola, A. (2015) <i> The Roots of Hinduism: The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization.</i> New York, Oxford University Press.</ref>
The longest, continual practice of cremation does appear to be in the Indian sub-continent, where early Indus cultures and later ancient India Indian societies continued to bury their dead even before the full emergence of Hinduism and Buddhism. Ancient China and Japan appeared to have buried their dead, although this practice would later change.
==Later Use==
