HOLMES ANNIVERSARY VOLUME 



the valleys of the Chattahoochee and the Tallapoosa, with their tribu- 

 taries. The Yamasee, the ancient inhabitants of the coast of Georgia 

 and of the adjacent islands, were of this stock, but being among the 

 first to feel the influence of Europeans, having come in contact with 

 the Spaniards early in the sixteenth century, they soon lost their 

 primitive customs and later sought homes elsewhere. The same is 

 true of the tribes which occupied the coastal plain northward, within 

 the present state of South Carolina. These very early removed from 

 the coast and settled far inland, evidently becoming allied or affiliated 

 with other tribes. And for this reason our knowledge of the customs 

 of the early inhabitants of the coastal region is limited to the few 

 brief and often ambiguous statements of the first explorers of the 

 coast. The Cherokee, the most important detached Iroquoian tribe, 

 who claimed and occupied the hills and valleys of the southern 

 Alleghanies, and the Siouan tribes of Virginia and North Carolina, 

 had distinctive forms of burial which are to be mentioned in detail. 

 And so it may be assumed the majority of ancient burials encountered 

 in eastern United States represent the work of various tribes which 

 were met by the first Europeans to penetrate their respective terri- 

 tories. Later burials are often easily distinguished from the more 

 primitive forms, and in certain cemeteries it is possible to recognize 

 the burials which took place after contact with the whites, not only 

 by reason of the associated objects of European origin, but by the 

 changed position of the remains. 



Many early writers described the burial customs of the different 

 tribes, and in recent years archeological investigations have tended, 

 in many instances, to verify these references. Such investigations 

 have made it possible to distinguish the customs of the various groups 

 of tribes, and to see to what extent their natural environment led them 

 to adopt the several methods of disposing of their dead, but in the 

 development of the various forms heredity appears to have been as 

 great a factor as environment. 



Considering New England as a whole, the home of kindred Algon- 

 quian tribes, the primitive manner of burial was to place the body, 

 after it had been closely flexed and wrapped in skins or bark, in a 

 rather small pit. This system probably resulted from the great diffi- 

 culty which must necessarily have been experienced by the people in 

 making an excavation, as a grave of this form required much less 

 labor than would have resulted from the making of one of sufficient 

 size to hold an entire body in an extended position. 



When, late in the autumn of 1620, the Pilgrims touched at Cape 

 Cod, they landed to explore the country and to learn something of its 



[32] 



