206 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 182 



utilitarian implements as well as ornaments, the Indians of southern 

 Virginia could convert this metal only into jewelry. 



The nearer the source of copper, the greater, therefore, the supply, the more of 

 it was used for implemental purposes, whereas, the greater the distance from the 

 source and the smaller the supply available the more it was used for ornaments. 

 [Rickard, 1934, pp. 274.] 



BUEIALS 



The village soil was so low in hiunic content that the site had to be 

 taken down to the water table, some 6 feet under the present surface, 

 to insure that the entire cultural evidence had been removed and no 

 early traces overlooked. In so doing, we ran across a number of 

 deeply buried graves whose outlines were so indefinite and poor that 

 they were hard to determine, nor could we pick up traces of them in 

 vertical slicing. The sandy soil surrounding the grave and the fill 

 within the grave blended so completely that we were never sure that 

 we would find the skeletal remains until we made actual contact with 

 the bones. Sometimes after the skeletal remains were removed and 

 the area carefully searched we were able to make out the very dim 

 outline of the bottom of the grave, for occasionally there were breaks 

 in the thin silty-clay layers indicating some former disturbance. 



Relatively speaking, the humic content of the upper 2 feet of the 

 site was higher than that in the remaining lower sections. Even so it 

 was most difficult, if not next to impossible, to trace the origin of most 

 pits. Exceptions occurred whenever we came across a pit completely 

 filled with discarded mussel or periwinkle shells. All of these origi- 

 nated at a depth of 1 foot under the present surface and in some 

 places a foot beneath the plow zone. 



The ritual of placement of the body, whether flexed or extended, is 

 the determining factor which distinguishes the cultural affiliation of 

 the individual. The depth from the surface to the bottom of the 

 grave cannot be relied upon as a time factor, since the latest graves 

 were found to be the deepest in the entire site. Many of the graves 

 contained only a single flexed or extended burial. Others contained 

 two or more occupants. The earlier burials were flexed while the 

 later ones tended to be extended. Flexing seems to be quite prevalent 

 during Late Archaic, Early Woodland, and early Middle Woodland 

 periods. Subsequently the burial ritual was changed and interment 

 customs demanded that the body be placed extended or partially ex- 

 tended. Tlie placement of offerings was optional. Only rarely at 

 this site did we recover offerings from the graves. 



Many a carapace of the box turtle was found in the graves in its 

 natural position, rather than inverted as a receptacle. These place- 

 ments occurred far too often to bo accidental. This trait has been in- 

 terpreted, in this study, as the totemic emblem of the clan to which the 



