Burial Mounds

Extracting Information through Burial Mounds

Archeologists reconstruct burial mounds to acquire information about former cultures and civilizations on six levels. By examining burial sites, they investigate the ideas, beliefs, and meanings attributed to the afterlife. They give insight into the processes that the culture may have believed were necessary for the deceased to reach another world or realm after death. Rituals or ceremonies may have taken place during the burials as a means for the deceased to rest in peace or as reassurance that the deceased would not haunt or harm the living. They may have believed that specific rituals were required to aid in the deceased's transition from the earthly world to the spirit world. Materials found in the burial provide clues that lead to these findings.

By investigating the processes performed by cultures during burials, archaeologists attempt to interpret changes and adaptations made through time. By examining the differences amongst burials over time, archaeologists are able to study the evolutionary processes of cultures, making note of cultures that flourished and spread in contrast to those that die. Migrations can be traced, as well as epidemics that may have affected the population. Changes include the addition or elimination of particular burial goods, different styles of dress, body position, multiple bodies, or the residue of rites practiced during the burial.

Burial mounds may illustrate the differences amongst age and sex of individuals. Although it is difficult to accurately make conclusions, hypotheses may be made when examining the deceased, burial goods, and location of the mounds. Cultures quite often are consistent in their burial methods. By examining the differences amongst males and females, babies, children, adults, and the elderly, archaeologists are able to speculate on the different social positions of members within the culture. This is possible only when examining the gender and age within the same culture. They must be able to differentiate between the two sexes and various ages based on the consistency of characteristics and burial practices. Individuals may be recognized as being of importance if they are buried in a certain position in contrast to others in the culture, if they are buried with more artifacts or artifacts of special significance, or if the burial mound is created in a larger or more complex manner. For example, burial customs of ancient agriculturalists from the Near East and Central Asian regions illustrate the differences among male and female roles within the community. Female burials include objects that represented their occupations, such as needles for those who knit and pestles and querns for those involved in food preparation. Within male burials, warriors were buried with weapons such as arrows and spearheads.

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