This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: During his renowned excavations at the Shanidar Cave in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, American archaeologist Ralph Solecki located burial sites containing pollen and flower fragments from various species of wildflowers. He interpreted this as evidence that Neanderthals may have placed flowers around their dead at their burial sites around 60,000 years ago.
Through the ages, flowers have provided comfort for numerous reasons—biological, psychological, cultural, sensory and symbolic. So why do cut flowers help and bring us comfort? And why do we give flowers to someone when they are grieving, or buy flowers for ourselves when we are sad?
Flowers have the capacity to convey comfort when words may be difficult to find. At times of mourning, a bouquet or bunch of cut flowers can be given without demanding a conversation that may be difficult, awkward or unnerving. Flowers offer gentle recognition in a nonintrusive way.
Their textures, colors, fragrance, shapes, formations and variations can stimulate or soothe our senses and elevate our mood. Flowers can lower stress levels and trigger calming chemical responses in the brain. Like all nature, flowers embody the cycle of life and affirm life.
As with life itself, flowers—and especially cut flowers—are attractive exactly because they, like us, have a shelf life: They acknowledge death has its place within the natural order. Meanings of flowers and death vary around the world. The beautiful chrysanthemum flower, for example, has different meanings in different cultures.
In Japan, chrysanthemums are associated with death and reincarnation and are placed in the coffin of someone deceased. In Chinese culture, white and yellow chrysanthemums are often sent to the family of the deceased, while other colors are usually avoided. In the United States, where chrysanthemums symbolize truth and purity, they are used to honor and remember a person who has lived a full life.
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