Transitory mummies: hopewell tombs and the conservation of the dead
https://doi.org/10.4081/jbr.2005.10181
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Many Eastern North American Indians practiced secondary burial, and a wide variety of beliefs were attached to the stages of decomposition of the corpse. Evidence is presented for protracted corpse manipulation at the Lawrence Gay Mounds, Pike County, Illinois. Unfired clay face painting, rearticulation of skeletons, and partial disarticulation of dried corpses were features of mortuary practices at this site. Middle Woodland tombs slowed decomposition, because corpses were protected to such an extent that bodies remained in a mummified state for months or years. Inferences about funeral rites and ritual specialists two thousand years ago are suggested.
PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.
Downloads
Citations
