Group A Mortuary Features

Folder Type:
Archaeological Feature
Primary Title:
Group A Mortuary Features
Summary Description:
Primary interments in little elaborated graves Group A mortuary features were the first to be found, since they are the most recent, lying directly beneath a humic stratum and, in some cases, underneath two small refuse lenses with abundant shell. Graves were not more than 0.6 m deep and appear to have been dug into the underlying, culturally sterile yellowish clay with the size of the cadaver in mind. All the features were found in Operation 4-A except for two (F. 3 and F. 4) in Op. 4-B. Thirty-two graves contained 43 human individuals. All graves contained one or two individuals buried in primary and/or secondary mode, except F. 4, which received six individuals. Burial goods were few, sparse and simple consisting of shell and bone jewelry, worked bone, perforated shark vertebrae, and three axes. In some graves, clusters of deer bone, marine shell and marine crab claws were recorded. Probably these were intentional offerings.
Entity Type: Feature Type
Mortuary