essay

Charnel houses and mortuary crypts: disposal of the dead in the Middle Woodland period

hopewell archaeology : the chillicothe conferenceKent, OhioPublished In 1979 • Pages: 211-219

By: Brown, James Allison.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Brown examines the differences between charnal houses and mortuary crypts. Charnel houses are found in Ohio while mortuary crypts are found among the Havana in Illinois. He defines the two types of burial facilities and points out that more effort is required to maintain charnel houses. 'Not only are the two associated with quite distinct forms of burial treatment, but the social uses of burial also differ….[The] difference..is a product of the size of the sustaining population investing in these facility types and, indirectly, a reflection of differences in the complexity of the associated societies.' (page 219).
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Reviews and critiques
Theoretical orientation in research and its results
Religious and educational structures
Burial practices and funerals
traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Hopewell
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2004
RegionThe area the document pertains to
North America
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Eastern Woodlands
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
essay
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Archaeologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Sarah Berry ; 2003
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
no date given
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
Middle Woodland
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Illinois and Ohio; United States
NotesAdditional notes
James A. Brown
For bibliographical references see document 11: Brose and Greber
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
79088607
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Hopewell culture