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.