THE PROBLEM OF THE OHIO MOUNDS. 21 



The account by Breboeiif of the commiiual burial among tlie rtnrons 

 heretofore referred to is well kuown.' The same custom is alkuled to 

 by Lafitau.2 Bartram observed it auiong the Choctaws.^ It is also 

 ineutioued by Bossu,* by Adair,^ by Baruard liomaus,''' and others. 



Burial beneath or in dwellings. — The evidence brought to light by the 

 investigations of the Bureau of Ethnology, regarding a custom among 

 the niouiulbuilders of Arkansas and Mississippi, of burying in or under 

 their dwellings, has been given, in part, in an article published in the 

 Magazine of American Ilistory.^ It is a well-attested historical fact 

 that such was also the custom of the southern Indian tribes. Bartram 

 affirms it to have been in vogue among the Muscogulgees or Creeks,'^ 

 and Barnard Komans says it was also practiced by the Chickasaws.'' 

 C C3. Jones says that the Indians of Georgia "often interred beneath 

 the floor of the cabin, and then burnt the hut of the deceased over liis 

 head;"^® which furnishes a complete explanation of the fact observed 

 by the Bureau explorers, mentioned in the article before alluded to. 



Burial in a sitting or squatting iwsturc. — It was a very common prac- 

 tice among the mound-builders to bury their dead in a sitting or s(piat- 

 ting posture. The examples of this kind are too numerous ami too 

 well known to require repetition. I may add that the yet unpublished 

 reports of the Bureau show that this custom prevailed to a certain ex- 

 tent in Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, North Carolina, Missouri, Ohio, and 

 West Virginia. Instances have also been observed elsewhere.'^ That 

 th6 same custom was followed by several of the Indian tribes is attested 

 by the following authorities : Bossn,''^ Lawson,'' Bartram," and Adair.'-"* 



The use of fire in burial ceremonies. — Another observance in which the 

 burial customs of mound-builders corresponded with those of Iiulians 

 was the use of fire in funeral ceremonies. The evidences of this custom 

 are so common in mounds as to lead to the supposition that the mound- 

 builders were in the habit of ottering human sacrifices to their deities. 

 Although charred and even almost wholly consumed human bones are 

 often found, showing that bodies or skeletons were sometimes burned, it 

 does not necessarily follow that they were offered as sacrifices. More- 

 over, jutlging from all the data in our possession, the weight of evidence 

 seems to be decidedly agaiust such conclusion. 



Among the Indians tire appears to have been connected with the 

 mortuary ceremonies in several ways. One use of it was to burn the 



^Jesuit Relations for 1636. Trausl. in * Travels, p. 505. 



Fifth Ann. Rept. Bur. EthnoL, p. 110. '• Nat. Hist. Florida, p. 71. 



'^Moeursdes Sauvages, vol. 2, pp. 420- '"Antiq. So. Indians, p. 203. 



435. •' Jones's Autiq. So. Indians (Georgia 



3 Travels, p. 516. and Florida), pp. 183-185. 



■• Travels through Louisiana, ii. 2lt8. '- Travels, vol. 1, p. 251. 



6 Hist. Ain. Indians, p. 183. '^ Hist. Carolina, p. 182. 



fi Nat. Hist. Florida, p. 1)0. ' ' Travels, p. 515. 



"> February, 1884. "^ Hist. Am. Indians, p. 182. 



