Burial mound construction

Breuning-Madsen, Henrik, Mads K. Holst, and Marianne Rasmussen. 2001. The chemical environment in a burial mound shortly after construction - an archaeological-pedological experiment. Journal of Archaeological Science 28 691-697. 

One of the chief tools of an archaeologist is the shovel, or some other means of digging. Soil covers most artifacts over time, so objects of the past, even if they were used and left on the surface, eventually get buried. Finding these artifacts can be difficult. In some cases, such as mounds of earth built by Native Americans, there are changes on the surface that indicate an important archaeological site. (A number of Native American cultures constructed mounds, sometimes for burial but also for a variety of other purposes.) But often all visible traces are destroyed by weather, or covered by dirt and the activity of subsequent inhabitants. 

The outer edge of another earspool (Figure 3), the second used in this investigation, comes from Mound E, whose boundaries overlap those of Mound C. Mound E is thought to be later in time because its earth fill is above that of Mound C (I). Near the center of Mound E is a submound burial pit, Feature 33 (F-33), with the remains of a male in an extended position (Burial 17). A number of high-status objects surrounded the male burial. The Mound E earspool, classified as Type B by Jefferies (I), differs in size and construction from the Mound C example. 

Some of the higher-ranking members of Adena society were given special burials. Their bodies were wrapped in cloth, sprinkled with red ocher, and placed in specially constructed thatch houses. Sometimes the burials were accompanied by grave goods— personal possessions such as weapons and tools, left there for use in the afterlife. The houses were then burned, and mounds were constructed over the charred remains. 

---