Tons of great points all around but I'd just like to comment on the burial/cremation comment.
There is a practical reason for those actions, particularly cremation. Corpses are not the kinds of things you want laying around, decaying, smelling, and spreading disease. We need to get rid of them somehow. Burying them works but cremation is very efficient as it doesn't waste ground that could otherwise be used for things like buildings. Its a necessary thing to do, burying or cremation that is.
There is a practical reason for those actions, particularly cremation. Corpses are not the kinds of things you want laying around, decaying, smelling, and spreading disease. We need to get rid of them somehow. Burying them works but cremation is very efficient as it doesn't waste ground that could otherwise be used for things like buildings. Its a necessary thing to do, burying or cremation that is.