FHWKES] CASA GRANDE MOUNDS Lily 
MetHops oF DisposaL OF THE DEAD 
Considering the large population that must have lived at Casa 
Grande, it is strange that in all the writer’s excavations so few 
human skeletons were found. There is evidence of two kinds of 
burial, inhumation in houses and mounds, and cremation, an in- 
stance of which was discovered not far from the north wall of 
Compound B.* 
Whether or not this difference in the manner of disposal of the 
dead was due to the rank of the deceased is not clearly evident, but 
the nature of the objects buried with a skeleton in Clan-house 1 
would seem to indicate the grave of a priest. Skeletons unaccom- 
panied by mortuary objects were found in the plazas of Compound A 
and in rooms of the southwest angle, but whether these are ancient 
or modern is not positively known. 
The absence, so far as known, of evidences of cremation from the 
cemeteries of the Little Colorado region, including those of Zufi, and 
of Sikyatki, Awatobi, and other Hopi ruins, has been used as an argu- 
ment against associating the former inhabitants of these pueblos with 
the Hohokam of the Gila-Salt Basin. Moreover, the Pima do not 
burn their dead, nor have they done so in historic times. It may 
be said in reply to this objection that the Hohokam inhumated 
as well as cremated, thus furnishing a double precedent for their 
descendants. Moreover, there is good evidence that cremation was 
practiced in the eastern and northern Pueblo region, at Mesa 
Verde for instance. According to Castafieda, the Cibolans? burned 
their dead. 
The human bodies buried in the earth at Casa Grande were laid at 
full length, no remains of an inhumated body in a flexed position hav- 
ing been found. It is usual to find in pueblos and cliff-dwellings * 
skeletons buried in both ways. The manner of interment may have 
had in some cases an esoteric meaning, but in most instances it had 
no special significance. 
Several theories have been suggested to account for burial in the 
contracted position. It has been asserted by some authorities that 
the corpse was so disposed to represent the embryonic position. 
According to a second theory the body was deposited in the squat- 
ting position as suggestive of a state of rest. 
1 It would appear that a people who burned their dead did not believe in a resurrection of the body, 
and the same may be true of those who buried their dead. The placing of offerings in the grave indi- 
cates faith in the continuation of life, but does not prove, of course, belief in immortality. The practice 
of burning the dead, which was widespread in the Southwest in prehistoric times, was abandoned when 
the teachings of the missionaries were followed. 
2 Cibola is identified by the best authorities as ancient Zufi, but no evidence of cremation has yet 
been found in Zuni ruins. 
3 A cliff-dwelling is practically a pueblo built in a cave, and whatis true 01 one probably holds true for 
the other, with slight modification. 
