Old Burial Ground Analysis

About 18 miles North East of Manhattan there isn’t much around but small hills covered in crop fields and the occasional farmstead. If you drive just a little ways up King Road, just off highway 13 you will find a cemetery with a sign above two wire gates that says King’s Cemetery. There are three other names listed below King’s Cemetery, other names the grounds have been know as. One of these names is Adam’s Peak. This is rather strange considering the cemetery is not on a peak, nor is there a single stone bearing the name Adam. Upon further investigation you will find Adam’s Peak was, during the 1870’s and 80’s, a town and community.

As children growing up in the United States, educated through our public schools, we learned about the institution of slavery, which was an integral part of life in our country for nearly 300 years. We do not usually question the historical facts we learned about slavery or ask how we know so much about the history of these people (the enslaved Africans in America) who left behind so little written record. In the classroom, archeologists do not receive much credit, but it is largely through their work and research that we have been able to learn about “America’s diverse ethnic heritage” (Singleton 155). In the 1960’s, excavations of slave cabins

The African Burial Ground National Monument in New York recognizes the free and enslaved Africans buried in a 6.6-acre burial ground from the 1690s to 1794 (NPS, 2015). Over time, as the population and modern development proceeded, the cemetery became forgotten. A landfill created over the top of the site, sealed it off from the public’s knowledge. In 1991, contractors were prepping the land for a 34-story, 276-million dollar federal office building (GSA, n.d.). To go forth with construction, contractors worked in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (GSA, n.d.). Together, these acts require publicly funded projects to be surveyed by archaeological field-testing methods,

Muddy Creek Cemetery perfectly matches the small-town aesthetic prevalent throughout Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. Secluded by woods and off a minuscule dirt road, it is extremely easy to miss the final resting place of the town’s current and former inhabitants. Split into two parts, the lower half is further divided into a modern section that is still in use and a much older segment consisting of graves from various decades, many dating back to the 1800s. Up a trail that is slowly being invaded with poison ivy, the upper half of the cemetery can be found. Originally donated for the burial of civil war soldiers, the clearing once held a church that burned down long ago and many internments that have been vandalized and are mostly unmarked. Apart

Monk’s Mound is the largest earthwork in the United States, but the reason for why this one Mississippian mound stands out from all others has been a point of confusion for archaeologists. In the 1960s, researches started to investigate the mound to understand the mound’s relation to the Mississippian mound building culture. During this initial research, there were nine cores samples taken that showed that Monk’s Mound was constructed in 14 stages in the span of 250 years (De Pastino 2015). It was initially thought that the mound was built like many other Mississippian mounds, through loading baskets from a nearby source with dirt, then stacking them up, and flattening the top of the mound. However, this idea was contested in 2005 when a part of the mound collapsed (De Pastino 2015). Archaeologists, Schilling and Lopino, took twenty-two samples from the mound interior that became exposed due to the collapse; these researches studied the soil to understand the construction of the mound. What they found was that the soil that comprised the mound was relatively fresh and contained undisturbed plant material, there was little carbonized material, this is a sign that the soil did not sit at the surface long and was buried quickly (De Pastino

The Hopewell tradition was not a single cultural society, but a widely dispersed set of people. They worshiped a goddess by the name of spider-woman or moon goddess. Mounds were built as a ceremonial object. Which is where they buried members and worshiped. These mounds were actually made as lunar alignments and were an integral part of their highly developed social

A wooden marker was generally used with no identification of the deceased. “Little thought was given to marking the grave site because the gravedigger seldom expected to be able to protect and maintain the site.” In the 1840s, as people began to settle into the Dallas area, burial practices changed. These early pioneers buried their loved ones in unorganized, isolated places usually on the family’s land. Occasionally, the spot on the family farm might even be shared by a neighboring family. Family burial sites can be found all around Dallas in random places, such as the Letot, Daniel or Caruth family cemeteries. However, these sites are actually considered plots rather than cemeteries as they were not designed for perpetual care. The notion of protecting the dead was not a concern at the time and certainly not in the manner as it is

Slessor is without doubt one of Australia’s great poets as his poetry invites us to feel and think about human experience in new ways. He shapes meaning in his poems through the use of sophisticated and appropriate language. Within the poem “Beach Burial” Slessor provides various insights on how the human condition is questioned and allows the reader to experience personal encounters with death, loss and grief that he laments throughout this poem, thereby underlining the futility of war. He also demonstrates the everyday struggles during the Great Depression in Kings Cross within the poem “William Street” during the financial state in the 1930s.

Huckell (1996) theorizes that in an archaic setting when the materials are all on the surface, or shallowly buried, that it is an indication that there were “many multicomponent occupations mixed and then exposed”. These were brought to the surface either by a natural event: erosion, sandstorm, landslide, rockslide, flashflood, etc. Or, possibly the people didn’t have enough time to bury their goods.

The largest mound discovered in North America is Monks Mound in Cahokia, located outside of present day St. Louis and covers more than eighteen acres and is over one hundred feet tall (3). Made with locally quarried soils and built in stages over the course of a century or more, these mounds served as platforms for building, stages for religious and social activities and some were even used as cemeteries (1). It is believed that natives often occupied pre-existing settlements where the previous chiefdom had died out and the site had been abandoned; the reoccupying of these sites lead to the buildup of the earth mounds. Mounds were formed in the shape similar to a pyramid with the top cut off leaving a platform on the summit. Mounds were used to define the public space of the settlements plaza. The chief’s house was always on the largest mound in the settlement. If the mound was large enough a temple could be added or even a mortuary house so natives could prepare their dead. If the chief’s mound was not big enough then the temple mound would be adjacent to the chief’s mound in the plaza so that they would face each other (2).

Cemetery Path by Leonard Q. Ross is a suspenseful-tragic story about a man who is given the challenge to walk through a graveyard to prove everyone wrong. The bet he agrees to will allow the man to prove that he isn’t scared like a “pigeon”. This challenge will have everyone at the tavern he hangs at stop making fun of him. The story takes place during a cold, windy, snowy winter night in a Russian village perhaps during the 1970s. The story’s theme, not allowing others to influence your decisions, is demonstrated through Leonard Q. Ross use of the elements of fiction, stylistic choices, and literary devices.

According to Sullivan they “found a heavy flat olive-tinged stone – about two feet long, fifteen inches wide and ten inches thick- set in its center. It was inscribed with strange markings” (4).

These findings as well as findings in layer 1 and layer 5, figure 3.3, in the western mound, seem to add some support of the Brothers of the Abby Church of St. Vincent of finding the tomb of their patron saint. While not necessarily the bones of a saint, there is indication of Roman occupation/ activity of the site. Labeled a and e in layer 7 of Figure 3.2 of the eastern mound, a is a fragment of bronze, highly polished on one side, inscribed “Avgvsta” and e a fragment of glass that is undated and unsourced. In the western mound, figure 3.3 in layer 1 a Roman coin of Constantine the Great dating between 288-337. Also in the western mound in figure 3.3 labeled g, 18 sherds of early Medieval pottery from about 1200 AD. The western mound is viewed and excavated at the road that was cut into the barrow in 1136. Evidence of this being of the work in the building of the church is seen in the pottery from this time period. There seems to be a possibility of the brothers stumbling on a Roman burial in their activities. It is to note that there is claims that the burial uncovered was contained in a sepulcher of marble carved with scenes from the life of Christ and inscribed VINCENZO VIVATIS IN CHRISTO. According to Brother Wilfrid in a letter this burial and stones from it were moved to under the alter in the nave of the church. In an interesting study of the bones and relics with the bones could shed light in if the site did at one point contain a Roman era burial. There is a shadow of doubt concerning the burial as described due to the era’s relic trade and need to draw pilgrims to the church to help with their income. Research in the Roman, burial practices after Constantine the Great’s conversion to Christianity should also be research. In the final layers, layer 1 in figures 3.2 and figure 3.3 of both sides of the barrow are now covered with modern topsoil showing no more

Upon arriving at the tomb, the stone placed in front of the tomb becomes an issue.

A lot of scientific interpretations of Stonehenge that are proposed by archaeologists are often at “war”, so to speak, with other archaeological interpretations by faith communities. One of these particular arguments is that Paganism is not considered to be a “real” religion, like that of Christianity or the Islamic faith. Paganism is not widely practiced in the United States like it is over in the UK and other European countries. Stonehenge has been connected in one way or another to the religion of Paganism.