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Partial Cremation
Allied somewhat to cremation is
a peculiar mode of burial which is supposed to have taken place among
the Cherokees or some other tribe of North Carolina, and which is thus
described by J. W Foster.
[Footnote: Pre-Historic Races, 1873, p. 149.]
"Up to 1819 the Cherokees held possession of this
region, when, in pursuance of a treaty, they vacated a portion of the
lands lying in the valley of the Little Tennessee River. In 1821 Mr.
McDowell commenced farming. During the first season's operations the
plowshare, in passing over a certain portion of a field, produced a
hollow rumbling sound, and in exploring for the cause the first object
met with was a shallow layer of charcoal, beneath which was a slab of
burnt clay about 7 feet in length and 4 feet broad, which, in the
attempt to remove, broke into several fragments. Nothing beneath this
slab was found, but on examining its under side, to his great surprise
there was the mould of a naked human figure. Three of these burned clay
sepulchers were thus raised and examined during the first year of his
occupancy, since which time none have been found until recently....
During the past season (1872) the plow brought up another fragment of
one of these moulds, revealing the impress of a plump human arm.
"Col. C. W. Jenkes, the superintendent of the Corundum
mines, which have recently been opened in that vicinity, advises me
thus:
"'We have Indians all about us, with traditions
extending back for 500 years. In this time they have buried their dead
under huge piles of stones. We have at one point the remains of 600
warriors under one pile, but a grave has just been opened of the
following construction: A pit was dug, into which the corpse was placed,
face upward; then over it was moulded a covering of mortar, fitting the
form and features. On this was built a hot fire, which formed an entire
shield of pottery for the corpse. The breaking up of one such tomb gives
a perfect cast of the form of the occupant.'
"Colonel Jenkes, fully impressed with the value of
these archaeological discoveries, detailed a man to superintend the
exhumation, who proceeded to remove the earth from the mould, which he
reached through a layer of charcoal, and then with a trowel excavated
beneath it. The clay was not thoroughly baked, and no impression of the
corpse was left, except of the forehead and that portion of the limbs
between the ankles and the knees, and even these portions of the mould
crumbled. The body had been placed east and west, the head toward the
east. 'I had hoped,' continues Mr. McDowell, 'that the cast in the clay
would be as perfect as one I found 51 years ago, a fragment of which I
presented to Colonel Jenkes, with the impression of a part of the arm on
one side and on the other of the fingers, that had pressed down the soft
clay upon the body interred beneath.' The mound-builders of the Ohio
Valley, as has been shown, often placed a layer of clay over the dead,
but not in immediate contact, upon which they builded fires; and the
evidence that cremation was often resorted to in their disposition are
too abundant to be gainsaid."
This statement is corroborated by Mr. Wilcox:
[Footnote: Proc. Acad. Nat. Soc. Phila., Nov 1874, p 168.]
"Mr. Wilcox also stated that when recently in North
Carolina his attention was called to an unusual method of burial by an
ancient race of Indians in that vicinity. In numerous instances burial
places were discovered where the bodies had been placed with the face up
and covered with a coating of plastic clay about an inch thick. A pile
of wood was then placed on top and fired, which consumed the body and
baked the clay, which retained the impression of the body. This was then
lightly covered with earth."
It is thought no doubt can attach to the statements
given, but the cases are remarkable as being the only instances of the
kind met with in the extensive range of reading preparatory to a study
of the subject of burial, although it must be observed that Bruhier
states that the ancient Ethiopians covered the corpses of their dead
with plaster (probably mud), but they did not burn these curious
coffins.
Another method, embracing both burial and cremation,
has been practiced by the Pitt River or Achomawi Indians of California,
who "bury the body in the ground in a standing position, the shoulders
nearly even with the ground. The grave is prepared by digging a hole of
sufficient depth and circumference to admit the body, the head being cut
off. In the grave are placed the bows and arrows, bead-work, trappings,
&c., belonging to the deceased; quantities of food, consisting of dried
fish, roots, herbs, &c., were placed with the body also. The grave was
then filled up, covering the headless body; then a bundle of fagots was
brought and placed on the grave by the different members of the tribe,
and on these fagots the head was placed, the pile fired, and the head
consumed to ashes; after this was done, the female relatives of the
deceased, who had appeared as mourners with their faces blackened with a
preparation resembling tar or paint, dipped their fingers in the ashes
of the cremated head and made three marks on their right cheek. This
constituted the mourning garb, the period of which lasted until this
black substance wore off from the face. In addition to this mourning,
the blood female relatives of the deceased (who, by the way, appeared to
be a man of distinction) had their hair cropped short. I noticed while
the head was burning that the old women of the tribe sat on the ground,
forming a large circle, inside of which another circle of young girls
were formed standing and swaying their bodies to and fro and singing a
mournful ditty. This was the only burial of a male that I witnessed. The
custom of burying females is very different, their bodies being wrapped
or bundled up in skins and laid away in caves, with their valuables, and
in some cases food being placed with them in their mouths. Occasionally
money is left to pay for food in the spirit land."
This account is furnished by General Charles H.
Tompkins, deputy quartermaster-general, United States Army, who
witnessed the burial above related, and is the more interesting as it
seems to be the only well-authenticated case on record, although E. A.
Barber [Footnote: American Natural, Sept., 1878, p. 699.] has described
what may possibly have been a case of cremation like the one above
noted:
"A very singular case of aboriginal burial was brought
to my notice recently by Mr. William Klingbeil, of Philadelphia. On the
New Jersey bank of the Delaware River, a short distance below Gloucester
City, the skeleton of a man was found buried in a standing position, in
a high, red, sandy-clay bluff overlooking the stream. A few inches below
the surface the neck bones were found, and below these the remainder of
the skeleton, with the exception of the bones of the hands and feet. The
skull being wanting, it could not be determined whether the remains were
those of an Indian or of a white man, but in either case the sepulture
was peculiarly aboriginal. A careful exhumation and critical examination
by Mr. Klingbeil disclosed the fact that around the lower extremities of
the body had been placed a number of large stones, which revealed traces
of fire, in conjunction with charred wood, and the bones of the feet had
undoubtedly been consumed. This fact makes it appear reasonably certain
that the subject had been executed, probably as a prisoner of war. A pit
had been dug, in which he was placed erect, and a fire kindled around
him. Then he had been buried alive, or, at least, if he did not survive
the fiery ordeal, his body was imbedded in the earth, with the exception
of his head, which was left protruding above the surface. As no trace of
the cranium could be found, it seems probable that the head had either
been burned or severed from the body and removed, or else left a prey to
ravenous birds. The skeleton, which would have measured fully six feet
in height, was undoubtedly that of a man."
Blacking the face, as is mentioned in the first
account, is a custom known to have existed among many tribes throughout
the world, but in some cases different earths and pigments are used as
signs of mourning. The natives of Guinea smear a chalky substance over
their bodies as an outward expression of grief, and it is well known
that the ancient Israelites threw ashes on their heads and garments.
Placing food with the corpse or in its mouth, and money in the hand,
finds its analogue in the custom of the ancient Romans, who, some time
before interment, placed a piece of money in the corpse's mouth, which
was thought to be Charon's fare for wafting the departed soul over the
Infernal River. Besides this, the corpse's mouth was furnished with a
certain cake, composed of flour, honey, &c. This was designed to appease
the fury of Cerberus, the infernal doorkeeper, and to procure a safe and
quiet entrance. These examples are curious coincidences, if nothing
more.
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Introduction to the Study of Mortuary Customs
Among the North American Indians
Native American Nations
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