Posted on 12/19/2008 3:14:08 AM PST by NCDragon
SAVANNAH, Ga. Exposed by erosion at the edge of a crumbling bluff, the pit discovered beneath 2 feet of sandy dirt at first appeared to be a grave just long and deep enough to bury a human body.
An excavation by archaeologists on Ossabaw Island revealed something more puzzling - just a few small bones, apparently from fingers or toes, mixed with charcoal, bits of burned logs and pottery shards more than 1,000 to 3,000 years old.
The find has led researchers to suspect that American Indians used the ancient pit to burn bodies of the dead, making it a rare example of cremation among the early native inhabitants of the southeastern U.S.
"It's a special sort of burial," said Tom Gresham, an Athens archaeologist who worked on the excavation and serves on Georgia's Council on American Indian Concerns. "The way Indian tribes over time buried their dead varied tremendously. But cremations are fairly rare."
(Excerpt) Read more at wral.com ...
That is cool. Ossabaw is fairly untouched IIRC. Beautiful area, but not surprising that with high groundwater not much choice but cremation.
ping
It was a beach Barbecue site
Too early, then, to be Westo.
In El Paso they built a Walmart over a Indian graveyard. I wonder if it is haunted.
Or...Cannibalism
|
|||
Gods |
Thanks stockpirate. |
||
· Discover · Nat Geographic · Texas AM Anthro News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · · The Archaeology Channel · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists · |
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.