Far North

In Arctic cultures, graves were decorated with red ocher and contained fine ivory artifacts such as harpoon parts and pottery. Some graves were partially lined with whale bones, or sometimes had wooden floors. As part of their religion, they believed that humans had several souls, one of which was the name. After death it was believed that the name and personality of a deceased person would enter the body of a newborn infant given the same name.

At a site in Newfoundland dating to 2350 BC, 99 individuals were found buried in graves sealed with layers of limestone, rocks and sandy soil mixed with crushed shell. All the bodies had been sprinkled with powdered red ocher. Offerings of tools and weapons were found buried with most of these bodies.

West Coast of the United States

The use of red ocher appears to have been a part of the burial customs here as well. In southern California, graves dating from 6000 to 1000 BC have been found sprinkled with this substance. This was also the case with burials in the San Francisco Bay area dating to 2500 BC. Burials and cemeteries in this area show evidence of considerable ceremonial preparation including orienting the bodies toward the west. From 2000 BC to 300 AD, most people were buried only with a few utilitarian objects. The exception to this was the few graves found with shaman’s kits inside them. These kits included bone whistles, quartz crystals and charms.

Southwestern United States

Mummies in a high state of preservation have been found throughout the southwest. It was obvious that some tribes believed in an afterlife because rich grave goods, weapons and ornaments have been found with the bodies. Even mummified dogs have been found. In one instance, two dogs were found buried with two deer bones beside them – food for the beyond!

The Mimbres society (1000 - 1130 AD) was one of several that flourished in the southwest. They were well-known for their pottery and many examples were found in their burials. Pottery had been placed in an inverted position over the head of the deceased and ceremonially broken or “killed” to liberate the spirits within so that they could accompany the deceased into the afterworld.

The Anasazi of Chaco Canyon, located in New Mexico, buried their dead within refuse heaps. The corpse was protected within the mound, however. It was accompanied by funerary furnishings, and the entire burial was covered with sandstone slabs.

Southeastern United States

People of the Middle Archaic period (6500 - 3600 BC), in the present state of Mississippi, buried people in formal cemeteries consisting of large, shallow pits. They contained up to 40 or more bodies laid in graves with no particular spacing. Sometimes the pits were dug into natural bluffs overlooking the valley where the people lived. However, in larger towns, the elite families were sometimes placed in burial mounds with elaborate grave goods that represented their status in society.

Many burial mounds found in Florida, are more recent and date to the 1500s. DeSoto and other Spanish explorers brought diseases with them to the New World that wiped out up to 90 percent of village populations. European artifacts such as glass beads, chain mail and pottery were found in these mounds.

Midwestern United States

Many people do not know that there are over 100,000 burial mounds in the U.S. The Ohio Valley has a large concentration of these mounds dating from 1000 BC to 100 AD, many of which were built by the Adena people. A small mound for a single person would be made by lining and covering a shallow pit with bark. More and more burials would be added, and the mound grew in size. Sometimes the bodies were cremated, and sometimes the bones were deposited in a bundle because the body had been exposed outside until the flesh decayed. Once again, the use of red ocher was found sprinkled in the graves.

In the earliest of these graves, the dead were buried with utilitarian objects such as flint blades, stone axes and pipes. The bodies wore strings of copper beads, shells and bone. The later graves sometimes had canopies erected over them. The bodies were painted with bright pigments and buried with offerings of food and valuable artifacts.

Some people were buried in log tombs within the mounds. These may have been important leaders. A skull, perhaps the head of an enemy or revered ancestor, was sometimes found on the lap of the interred body. Copper bracelets and rings, as well as more elaborate pipes, were found with these later burials. Also found were small stone tablets used for preparing ocher. They had zoomorphic or animal designs on them.

The Hopewell people (100 BC - 500 AD) created the most impressive burial mounds of the Ohio Valley. At Newark, Ohio, there is a vast complex of circles, squares and octagons linked by avenues that encircle the burial mounds. An amazing example is the Great Serpent Mound. It is 1,254 feet long. It represents a serpent with a tightly curved tail, then wriggles along a ridge, ending with the head. It’s open jaws enclose an oval burial mound. The full scope of it can be seen from the top of the visitor’s tower.

The Hopewell people began a mound by cremating a body and burying it within a sacred oval enclosure. Funerary offerings were placed on altars within the enclosure. Then, the mourners heaped basket-loads of earth over the burial to form a mound.

Several mounds discovered in the Midwest have been deformed by erosion, but it was determined that they had originally been shaped like elephants and camels. These animals are now extinct in North America, so that means that these mounds are 10,000 years old.

Wisconsin has many mounds shaped like eagles, tortoises, bears, foxes and humans that were built between 400 and 1100 AD. These are called effigy mounds and are in such tremendous proportions that their shapes can only be seen from the air. In many of these mounds, the burials were placed in the area corresponding to the heart of the effigy figure. In the Northern Mississippi Valley, the mounds are hump-shaped and rarely higher than thirty feet, but they were filled with skeletons.

There are mounds found from St. Louis down to the Gulf of Mexico that are shaped more like pyramids. They are square or rectangular hills that are flat on top and they had staircases or ramps leading up to them at one time. These are called temple mounds because there is evidence that temples once topped these mounds. However, not one of the temples survives. These mounds were not normally used for burials, however, in one of these "pyramids" in Ohio, an interior sepulcher was found. It was constructed of logs, and inside there were three adult and two infant skeletons accompanied by a large number of artifacts including ornaments of copper, mica, tortoiseshell, and silver as well as thousands of pearls. It is obvious that the people buried here were rich, if not royalty.

South America

The Andes Mountains were home to the Chavin culture (1000 - 200 BC). Notable persons were buried in deep pit graves. A primitive form of mummification was used. The bodies were dried, and the brain and viscera were removed. The bodies were wrapped in fine cloaks, and then in great sheets of decorated cloth. The cloth was dyed red, green, brown or black, and was embroidered with images of gods, demons and animals.

Nasca, Peru (200 BC - 600 AD) is well-known for the amazing line drawings made in enormous proportions in the shapes of animals and birds. The people who created these wonders were from a civilization of high culture. With regard to their dead, the bodies were laid out in graves in a dignified manner. They were dressed in splendid clothing including large embroidered capes and sashes that were worn as turbans.

The Chimu (850 AD - 1470 AD) were another Peruvian people. They took great care of their dead. In many cases the viscera were removed and the cavities were washed out with a preservative fluid. In other instances, the body was dried in the sun, then dressed and trussed up with the head resting on the knees and the hands folded over the shins. Then the body was wrapped in textiles which turned it into a big bundle. Strangely, a false head made of cloth or wood was attached to the bundle. The grave it was placed in was lined with mats. Tools of daily life were packed into the grave. It’s obvious that these people believed in an afterlife due to the great care taken with their burials.

The Incas are the most well-known Peruvian people and they thrived from 1200 AD until the Spanish invasion in 1532 AD. Their burial customs varied between regions. Near Cuzco, they buried their dead by seating the corpse on a magnificent stool and dressing and adorning it in their best finery. In the province of Javja, the body was placed inside a fresh llama hide and sewn into it. A face was shaped on the outside, and the body was kept this way inside the family home.

When a chieftain died, in any region, the community was in great mourning. The women would cut off all their hair. Accompanied by drums and flutes, the people would march around the places the chief had frequented in life, as they sang sad songs. The more important he was, the longer the mourning was carried out. Sometimes it was up to 10 days before the body was interred in a tomb. Women, children and servants that were close to the chieftain were slaughtered and buried with him to serve him in the afterlife. During certain festivals, the dead chieftains were taken out and carried around on litters in great ceremonies, and animal and human sacrifices were made.

Columbia (and Panama) were home to the Tairona people. Their tombs were in the form of vertical shafts. Treasures from these tombs were so well hidden at the foot of the shafts that it took all the skills of modern tomb robbers to get to them before the archaeologists could examine them. These treasures were in the form of golden bottles and exquisite figurines.

In the rain forests of the Amazon, the shaman led the death ceremonies that included burial, reburial and cremation. Sometimes this was followed by ritual consumption of the ashes in beer. In some of these communities, funerary cannibalism was practiced. On Marajo Island, at the mouth of the Amazon, there are large mounds contain-ing urn burials.

Mexico

In cultures of Mexican pre-history (6700 - 5000 BC), burial practices reveal that rituals concerning death were just beginning to develop. There were group burials as well as cremations. By about 1500 BC, burial rituals became more elaborate. Graves were deep, bell-shaped pits. The interred bodies were accompanied by figurines which seem to have been religious objects.

The residents of Teotihuacan (200 BC - 750 AD) (near present-day Mexico City) believed in an afterlife. In one building, the famous fresco of the Earthly Paradise was found. Spirits are shown dancing among butterflies and plants and playing with each other. It is a scene of great happiness, showing that the otherworld was not a place to be dreaded.

The Zapotecs were a people who lived in the mountains of Oaxaca from approximately 500 BC through 900 AD. Their tombs were elaborate, underground rooms. Over the doorways were pottery urns that had figures of gods upon them. These were the guardians of the dead. The bodies were laid on the floor and covered in ornamented textiles. Frescoes were painted on the walls showing processions of priests and gods.

In the Zapotec capital of Monte Alban, death had an important place. Artisans constructed aesthetically pleasing subterranean tombs. They included an antechamber and a main chamber with vaulted ceilings. The walls of some of these tombs were covered with hieroglyphs and frescoes depicting men and gods in elaborate costumes. Within the chambers were found ear ornaments, figurines, pebbles carved in the shape of human heads, and mosaic plaques made of pieces of jade and other stones set in stucco. However, on the hills surrounding Monte Alban, simple burials have been found that indicate people of a different economic and social class were buried there than those who were buried in the elaborate tombs.

When Mayan (200 -1541 AD) nobles died, the people believed that they became one with the gods, and that they dwelt in the night sky with them. The Mayans worshiped their ancestors, and in so doing, they worshiped the gods. The dead were buried under their houses in which the family continued to live.

Tikal was a Mayan city of the classic era (250 AD - 900 AD). It’s rulers were interred in tombs underneath mortuary pyramids. They were built with nine stages symbolizing the nine levels of the underworld. Grave offerings of ceramics, flints and jades were placed inside the tomb. The ruler was worshiped as a god after his death in the temple on the top of the pyramid.

Blood was an important element in many Mayan events such as birth, heir designation, ballgames and death rituals. Offerings of blood were made to seal these events. Male nobles drew blood from the penis, ear, or tongue; women drew blood from the tongue; blood was drawn from the ears, fingernails, and mouths of war captives before they were sacrificed.

Many societies of Mesoamerica practiced human sacrifice as part of their religion, however, I will only describe the Mayan performance of this practice. Their sacrifices began with the use of animals, but as the culture became more bloody and fanatical, children and slaves became the victims. The face of the victim was painted blue and the heart was torn out at the sacrifice site, or the victim was shot to death with arrows. This was done in honor of the god Chac when rain was needed.

As you can see, many ancient American cultures had similar practices: from using red ocher in their graves, to constructing burial mounds. I think this is amazing since these cultures were scattered over many thousands of miles. A small number of the ancient practices are still carried out today, particularly in rural areas of Central and South America. As always, the past is part of the present.