Hoyme and Bass] SKELETAL REMAESrS 387 



if any — flesh, is fairly good evidence; but not all of these showed 

 markings on the bones, indicating cleaning. With semiflexed or 

 extended burials, markings on the bones must establish whether the 

 flesh was removed before or after interment. One may surmise 

 that a semiflexed skeleton, showing signs of cleaning, had been buried 

 within a relatively short time after treatment, for the position of 

 the skeleton suggests the absence of any wrappings other than, possibly, 

 the skin. Conversely, one would expect unwrapped skeletons to be 

 buried semiflexed rather than extended. A mummified extended 

 skeleton, with the bones held in place by dried skin and sand packing, 

 however, would be difficult to bend; and bones held in place in this 

 way would be articulated when buried, even after the ligaments had 

 decomposed. 



The second problem is to establish the reason for the practice. 

 From the literature smnmarized by Davidson (1935) and S wanton 

 (1946), one gathers that (1) mummification of bodies of chiefs or 

 other important personages was practiced in some areas; (2) bones 

 of other persons were also cleaned and kept; and (3) that the cleaned 

 bones were occasionally carried about from place to place as the group 

 moved. Eeasons for keeping bodies vary somewhat. A group may 

 wish to preserve the remains of a person of importance for veneration, 

 good luck, or some other reason. Sentiment, religious beliefs, or other 

 considerations may have motivated families to keep the remains of 

 deceased members with them. If the group were sedentary, it would 

 be easy to do this by burial under the house, or in some other designated 

 place; but if the group moved about periodically, the only solution 

 would be to take the remains with them. Eegardless of whether one 

 is moving or sedentary, even partially cleaned bones are decidedly less 

 smelly and messy than a decomposing body — a factor readily appre- 

 ciated by anyone familiar with the summer temperatures and hu- 

 midity of the Middle and South Atlantic States. One may surmise, 

 further, that circumstances might modify the practices. Under 

 normal conditions, the group would be able to carry out regular 

 procedures; but a rapidly moving group might be forced to omit 

 some of the operations, or to bury the bones in temporary ossuaries, 

 as the Nanticoke apparently did in the I760's (cf. Davidson, 1935, 

 ftn.p. 87). 



Eeviewing the burial practices seen in the Tollifero and Clarksville 

 sites in the light of these surmises, various suggestions can be ad- 

 vanced. At the Tollifero site about one-third of the skeletons show 

 evidence of the flesh having been removed from the bones. It might 

 be inferred that most of the bodies were simply buried ; that the ex- 

 tended burial showing these markings had been mummified as de- 

 scribed above; that the bundle and tightly flexed burials had been 

 cleaned (possibly after exhumation or exposure), wrapped and kept 



