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 Gen. 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[58] 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.