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NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Primitive means of excavating. Trowellike implements of antler 

 were found in several ash pits and were probably the tools used for 

 digging pits and graves. The sand nrght have been easily loosened 

 with picks of antler or wood or with the shoulder blades of elk 

 or deer and have been scooped up with shallow bark baskets. 



The grave fillings in at least forty cases were heavily intermixed 

 with carbonized wood and bark. This suggests that the topsoil had 

 been thawed out to facilitate digging in winter. 



Depth of graves. In most cases the graves were dug as deep 

 as it would be possible with rude implements. This depth was to 

 the clay stratum or into it for a few inches. Because of the poor 

 drainage of the clay the skeletons buried within it decayed much 

 more rapidly than those in the loose sand. A table of depths 

 follows : 



Table of depths of graves 



Arrangement of graves and position of skeletons. An examina- 

 tion of the map of the burials shows that apparently no fixed system 

 of plotting the graves was observed. The graves seem to have been 

 dug where the sand was softest and most easily excavated. It will 

 be noticed, however, that the graves cluster about open spaces. From 

 this it might be inferred that they were arranged about large trees 

 that afterward decayed. 



An examination of the table of orientation reveals that the bodies 

 were not apparently arranged to face any particular cardinal point. 

 This, however, does not necessarily indicate the lack of system. It 

 may be that the position in which a person died governed the position 

 in the burial. 



