87 
The only burials in the ground, found by the writer on this harbour, 
were in the prehistoric cemetery described by Patterson. The place was 
located back on the hillside about an eighth of a mile north from a small 
shell-heap. Patterson found a spot 8 or 10 feet in diameter with evidences 
of burials extending down 15 to 20 inches. There were also, over a space 
about 50 feet square, several graves lying to the west of this spot, none 
over 9 to 12 inches deep, and from 3 to 5 feet apart. Patterson states 
that at the bottom he found decayed fragments of birch bark in which, 
according to the custom of the ancient Micmacs, the dead were laid, 
below which the subsoil had not been disturbed. The writer re-dug the 
spot, which was about 10 feet in diameter, but found no remaining evidence 
of burials west of or beyond it. The body, in at least one case, according 
to Patterson, was flexed, lain on its side, and, he thinks, with the head 
north and face west. In other instances he found several together, and 
in the circular spot the writer found fragments of bones of several individ- 
uals, some young, others old. Both Patterson and the writer found 
ashes, charcoal, burned earth, and bits of burned human bones scattered 
through the soil in the pit. In all the graves except one he found pre- 
historic objects. These include points chipped from stone, pieces of 
harpoon points made of bone, adzes made of stone, fragments of pottery, 
knives made of copper, and a fragment of a pipe made of stone; and the 
writer found specimens of arrow points and fragments of harpoon points, 
of an adze, and of pottery. Objects are said 1 to be more commonly found 
in graves as one goes east in the area of the Maritime Provinces and Maine. 
In the shell-heaps even stray human bones are rarely found, only 
one bicusp and the upper end broken from a femur, dug up in heap A, 
being found by the writer in all the shell-heaps of this harbour. These 
may have been brought from a nearby burial place by dogs, scattered 
from graves in trees, or lost during a reinterment or ceremonials. Possibly 
they are the remains of cannibals. 
Considering that the prehistoric cemetery opened by Patterson was 
back from the shore, that no burials were found along the shore, and that 
human bones were rare in the shell-heaps, it may be concluded that the 
dead of Merigomish harbour were probably all usually deposited either in 
the ground, on scaffolds, or in trees at some distance from the village 
sites, perhaps 100 feet or so distant, possibly behind the shell-heaps, 
but not along the shore or in mounds, and that the bodies were flexed, 
resting on one side on birch bark, sometimes with the head north, and 
always accompanied by artifacts. So far as known these conditions 
also apply to Nova Scotia in general. Possibly the shell-heap sites were 
summer camps, and the dead may have been removed to the vicinity 
of winter camps in the interior. 
CONCLUSION 
The chief remains on Merigomish harbour are small shell-heaps, 
which may be of summer camps, the main village and burial grounds 
possibly lying back from the shore. Many of the animals of the region, 
especially most of the edible shell-fish, were used for food. Some of these 
1 Cf. Dixon, p. 6. 
