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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph by Eugene Lee Stewart 



A MONGOLIAN CEMETERY 



The Mongolians do not bury their dead, but set the coffin on the ground and cover it 

 with earth, and in time the elements undo the work which has been performed to keep prying 

 eyes away. The mound in the foreground has been recently made. Frequently the dead are 

 merely cast out upon the steppe (see illustration below). 



Photograph by Adam Warwick 



HUMAN BONES WHITENING ON THE MONGOLIAN STEPPE AND A BOX CONTAINING A 



CONDEMNED PRISONER 



While an occasional cemetery is found (see illustration above), the more customary 

 method of disposing of the dead is to leave the bodies exposed on the plains to be preyed 

 upon by wolves and dogs. Condemned criminals, fastened in wooden boxes, are left to die 

 of hunger and finally to be eaten. 



