STONE GRAVES OR CISTS. 15 



were unable to get at them; and one so left to die was revived by a cup 

 of coffee from our house and. is still living and well." 



Mr. J. L. Burchard, agent to the Round Valley Indians of California, 

 furnishes an account of burial somewhat resembling that of the Navajos: 



"When I first came here the Indians would dig a round hole in the 

 ground, draw up the knees of the deceased Indian, and wrap the body into 

 as small a bulk as possible in blankets, tie them firmly with cords, place 

 them in the grave, throw in beads, baskets, clothing, everything owned by 

 the deceased, and often donating much extra; all gathered around the grave 

 wailing most pitifully, tearing their faces with their nails till the blood 

 would run down their cheeks, pull out their hair, and such other heathenish 

 conduct. These burials were generally made under their thatch houses or 

 very near thereto. The house where one died was always torn down, 

 removed, rebuilt, or abandoned. The wailing, talks, &c, were in their 

 own jargon; none else could understand, and they seemingly knew but 

 little of its meaning (if there was any meaning in it) ; it sinrply seemed to 

 be the promptings of grief, without sufficient intelligence to direct any 

 ceremony; each seemed to act out his own impulse." 



STONE GRAVES OR CISTS. 



These are of considerable interest, not only from their somewhat rare 

 occurrence, except in certain localities, but from the manifest care taken by 

 the survivors to provide for the dead what they considered a suitable resting- 

 place. A number of cists have been found in Tennessee, and are thus 

 described by Moses Fiske:* 



"There are many burying grounds in West Tennessee with regular 

 graves. They dug them 12 or 1 8 inches deep, placed slabs at the bottom 

 ends and sides, forming a kind of stone coffin, and, after laying in the body, 

 covered it over with earth." 



It may be added that, in 1873, the writer assisted at the opening of a 

 number of graves of men of the reindeer period, near Solutre, in France, 

 and they were almost identical in construction with those described by Mr. 

 Fiske, with the exception that the latter were deeper; this, however, may 



* Trans. Amer. Antiq. Sue. 1820, vol. 1, p. 302. 



