DEAD,. DISPOSAL OF THE. Monuments and buildings set up by man for the use of the living were seldom preserved by him beyond their period of usefulness and seldom remain in tact ; but his arrangements for the dead were usually made with permanency in view and are frequently discovered undisturbed. From these records of the past knowledge is yielded of man's physical characteristics, circumstances, material achievements, customs and beliefs. Inscriptions are rarely present to give a date to graves; but the method of disposal, the type of grave, the objects deposited with the dead, their relative positions, the pos ture and orientation of the body, and, in the older periods, the geological stratification and contemporary fauna, provide knowl edge of the period and race to which the remains may be assigned.