Primitive man in Ohio / by Warren K. Moorehead.

  • Moorehead, Warren K. (Warren King), 1866-1939.
Date:
1892
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Primitive man in Ohio / by Warren K. Moorehead. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    General Thruston says: “ The rude cists, or box-shaped coffins, are made of thin slabs of stone. Sometimes the stones are broken or cut, or rubbed down so as to fit evenly and form a well shaped case, but more frequently they are rudely joined together. Occasionally they are found in mounds or layers, four or five tiers of graves deep. The graves are usually six or seven feet long, a foot and a half to two feet wide, and eighteen inches deep; but graves of greatly varying sizes and shapes are found intermingled with those of more regular form. The children’s graves are proportionately smaller. Frequently the same cist con- tains two or three skeletons, and is not more than three or four feet long, the bones having been placed in a pile irregularly within it, indicating that they were probably interred long after death, and after some intermediate preparation or ceremonies similar to the burial customs of some of the historic tribes. “ Many of the graves in the vicinity of Nashville are lined with large, thick fragments of broken pottery, as neatly joined together as if moulded for the purpose. The author recently excavated several graves of this kind on Hon. W. F. Cooper’s farm, near Nashville. The pottery burial cases were symmetrically formed, and seemed to be moulded in single pieces, until an attempt was made to raise them, when they fell apart, and were found to be composed of neatly joined fragments of large vessels; the heavy rims of the vessels, more than an inch and a half thick, having been used as rims or borders for the burial cases. “ Nearly all the stone graves are found to be filled with earth inside, by infiltration. The roots of trees have pene- trated them. The very skulls are usually packed solid with earth, but now and then the iron pick will strike a hollow cist in its original state, and the fortunate explorer may be rewarded by finding a vessel or bowl of clay, perhaps