Ancient and Not So Ancient Burial Practices

[NinjaPuppy]

The following convo was bought over from another topic-

[NinjaPuppy]

Oh, by the way, there is some REALLY freaky stuff that goes on in the back woods there. You drive down the old roads and you'll run into cemetaries where people are buried in, what I would call anyway, very bizaare manners. I'll see if I can find a picture to show you what I mean. Myself, I think there's a large voodoo contingent there.

I'm talking a makeshift, 6 foot high platform on stilts with hay and dirt thrown over the body (looks like they might be burning them?), mounds of dirt on the ground right next to the road, wood headstones, etc. Just different than what I'm used to...

In Tunica? How bizaare can one actually get when they bury their dead? It's usually customarily done due to terraine or water table.

I found this:

The Plains Indians and certain Indians of the Pacific Northwest commonly practiced above-ground burials using trees, scaffolds, canoes, and boxes on stilts, which decayed over time.

From U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service: http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/publicati ... rb41_5.htm

That certainly explains what I think you are talking about.

At first, I was going to make a smart-ass comment that it could be if there were Indians living just outside Memphis and this was the Pacific Northwest, but, I decided I'd see what more research I could find.
However, one of the roads around the area is called "Indian Mound Road," so there may be some truth to your theory. I can assure you, however, that the burial areas around there are still quite bizaare. I happend to be a cemetery junkie and those things facinate me. I'd like to continue more on this subject, but find that I'm really off-topic. Any chance you could move the last few posts into the off-topic thread and label it something like "Bizaare Graves?"

[NinjaPuppy]

This isn't a theory of mine. It's information (facts) from a government website that I found.

[ProfWag]

This isn't a theory of mine. It's information (facts) from a government website that I found.

Of course, but from what I saw, I really don't think it's Indian related, especially considering the area it's in and the surrounding graves (there are some grave markers more "normal" than others.) I hope to get some pictures and will send them the first part of March...

[NinjaPuppy]

Many major cities are now built on ancient Indian burial grounds. I'll Google some more stuff and see if I can find an example of these above ground cemetary sites in use today.

[ProfWag]

Many major cities are now built on ancient Indian burial grounds. I'll Google some more stuff and see if I can find an example of these above ground cemetary sites in use today.

Keep in mind that when I say "above ground," I'm talking about throwing a dead person on the ground (perhaps wrapped in a blanket) and then piling dirt, hay, and leaves on top of the body. No coffin, no mass graves, etc.

[NinjaPuppy]

I thought you said on 'stilts'?

[ProfWag]

I thought you said on 'stilts'?

Some were, some weren't. I think that the ones on stilts may have been new and then, perhaps, the stilts burned and then they threw stuff on top of the body once it landed. I don't know how to explain it really. I do hope to get a picture of it though. Also, these places were right along the road, in the middle of nowhere.

[NinjaPuppy]

Give me a town name.

[ProfWag]

Okay, check out this picture: flickr.com/photos/38145995@N00/140619316/
Behind the tree on the right, you'll see what looks like a high pile of weeds. It's not and I don't think the lady taking the picture noticed it. It's actually over a grave (I had to get out of the car to check it out.)

[NinjaPuppy]

Yes, it looks like built up debris from the plants that are growing there.

[NinjaPuppy]

Not to mention that many cemetaries really pile on the dirt to avoid a depression in the soil once it all settles. Then they might pile up all of the flowers from the funeral parlor on top of that.

[ProfWag]

Give me a town name.

Uhhhh, Tunica?
Actually, the sites are on outcropped roads between the town of Tunica MS and Casino Strip Road in the non-existant town of Robinson MS. Really.

[NinjaPuppy]

Let's see if this link works: http://www.stubchaer.com/WW2%20Cruise/Y ... %20640.jpg

[ProfWag]

Okay, okay, alright, already.
I'm just going to have to go out there and take pictures myself. I just find it hard to believe that my wife and I are the only people to have seen this, but I can't find any mention of it anywhere.
I know there may be rational explantions, but if I were a betting man (Tunica, huh?), I'm taking the side that they are voodoo ritual sites.