THOMAS.) THE HURON-IROQUOIS DISTRICT. 547 



GRAVES AND CEMETERIES. 



Ill single graves and eeuieteries burial is by no means uniform. The 

 sitting or crouching ijosture is frequent and the horizontal almost as 

 much so. Articles may be found with the dead or not. Besides imple- 

 ments and ornaments, vessels containing food were often placed in the 

 tomb. Gi'aves are often marked by depressions in cemeteries in New 

 York, and without mentioning this, Mr. Clark alludes to its cause' in 

 speaking of an early burial place: "The skeletons were universally 

 found buried in a sitting j)osture facing the east, with some domestic 

 utensil or weapon of war between the thigh bones. They are usually 

 found 2 or 3 feet below the surface. The skull and bones of the body 

 are uniformly sunk to a level with the legs. From ajipearances, the 

 bodies, after being placed in their graves, were covered with brush 

 previous to casting the earth upon them." 



A Dutch account, written in 1632,^ says that a dying person was 

 placed in this position, which was retained after death. Another account 

 in 1671,^ adds that when the body was thus placed in the ground they 

 " stow wood all around, which they cover with planks; on the planks, 

 which are covered with earth and stones, palisades are fastened in such 

 a manner that the tomb resembles a little house, to which they pay 

 divine reverence." 



Occasional examples of stone graves are found, and one such was 

 reported at Bast Syracuse, New York, in 1879. As described at the 

 time, flat stones set on edge formed a carefully made vault, but with 

 no mortar. As the other graves opened were of the ordinary type, this 

 may be doubtful. In opening the West Shore railroad through the 

 Mohawk valley occasional graves were found reported as covered with 

 large flat stones, and others have been described in Chenango county, 

 New York, as having layers of cobblestones above and below the 

 bodies.^ 



The most remarkable example of this kind in New York was described 

 by Mr. S. L. Frey in the American Naturalist.^ A group of graves 

 was opened which contained some curious tubes and other remarkable 

 relics, still retained at Canajoharie and Palatine bridge. The spot was 

 on the hillside, a little east of the latter place. The graves had been 

 lined with flat stones and varied from 3 to i feet in depth, bowlders 

 being placed above the bodies when buried. The position was not the 

 same in all, and in one case two skeletons were found in one grave. 

 The peculiar tubes and reddish earth connect this with graves in 

 Swanton, Vermont. 



IKCLOSURES. 



Stockades and earthworks both occur, but the latter have naturally 

 attracted the most attention. If the bank was partly intended to sup- 



' Onondaga, vol. 2, p. 257. ^ ibid., vol. 4, p. 127. ' Vol. i:), 1879, pp. C37-G44. 



'H.Y. Doc. Hist., vol. 3, p. 46. ' Historical Magazine, 1873, p. 13. 



