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And so from George Grey we have an observation that ritual transends cultures and time. The burial ceronomy of the ancient and our own are pretty much the same.

RITUAL : a religious or solemn ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order.

A SERIES OF ACTIONS not necessarily being prayer, believing in afterlife, the soul needing salvation.

The series of actions George Grey witnessed were "they were crying bitterly and scratching their cheeks, foreheads, and noses with their nails until the blood trickled slowly from the wounds. The men in front of the huts were busied in finishing off their spears, ready for the coming fight."

I wouldn't call this a series of actions, I would call this 'behavior'. Behavior that is customary for these people in grief.

So you could say that grief transcends cultures and time.

"The burial ceronomy of the ancient and our own are pretty much the same." Seriously ?? I'm pretty sure the men in the US don't finish spears as ceremony, and I'm also pretty sure that we're not wrapping mummies and burying their furniture with them. I haven't heard of AE's bringing flowers to a tomb site regularly for years afterward. What exactly would you say is the same ?

There are BIG differences in spiritual beliefs between cultures, and in ceremonial practices. Hell, there are big differences in spiritual beliefs between individuals in the same country.