woodland period moundbuilders of the bluegrass - Kentucky ...

platform. Then, they might put logs around the platform’s perimeter andcover the platform itself with thin strips of tree bark. Or, smaller logscould be arranged on the center of the platform to form a small rectangle.Then they would cover the area inside the small rectangle with barkstrips.Adena tomb builders used wooden poles or logs to build a frameworkfor the roof. Once the ceremonies were over, the framework was placedover the tomb opening. The tomb was sealed by covering the frameworkwith bark or closely-set poles to keep soil from falling in.Within some log-lined tombs, they set four to six small wooden posts(on average measuring three inches in diameter) deep into the groundalong each side of the burial platform. Archaeologists think these postssupported some sort of temporary cover.Temporary covers could have provided shade from the hot summersun to those involved in the burial rituals. Alternatively, their presencecould suggest that some Adena log-lined tombs may have been built tobe reused. If this is correct, these tombs would have been crypts. Cryptsare places where the dead are laid away to decompose. They are notdedicated to one person. Once the body is fully decomposed, the bonesare gathered up and buried in another place. The bodies found withinthese types of Adena “tombs” would simply have been the last peopleburied there.RELIGIOUS BELIEFSDespite decades of research, archaeologists still have much to learnabout Adena religious beliefs. This is because beliefs are some of themost difficult aspects of culture to discover.