Loved reading this post. As for old vs new, I think we all should try to create something new based on what knowledge we have gathered. Sculpting was new back then, it isn't now. We should be making something better, in our own ways, which we are. About burning the bodies, they do that because the Buddha himself asked his body to be burned. And as a sign of devotion, the kings that followed the Buddha collected his ashes for worship. If Buddha had asked for some other way, it would've been so to this day.