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A case study of Northeastern Late Archaic mortuary behavior: Turner Farm, Maine
Abstract
The preservation of osseous material at the Turner Farm site, Maine provides us with an opportunity to examine more closely some of the variability in Northeastern Late Archaic mortuary practices, especially that associated with the Moorehead/Maritime Archaic and Susquehanna traditions. A minimum of '70 individuals was recovered from Turner Farm from unburned primary inhumations (n = 7), unburned secondary inhumation features (MNI = 7), and secondarily deposited cremations (MNI = 56). All burials have been attributed to the Susquehanna occupation of the site by Bourque (1993). Neither age nor sex appears to have directly determined burial treatment at death since males, females, and subadults were afforded primary as well as burned and unburned secondary inhumation. All the unburned secondary interments appear to have undergone significant decomposition and were largely disarticulated at the time of deposition. Similarly, analysis of the burning patterns of the human bone suggests that individuals deposited in the secondary cremation features were disarticulated and in various stages of decomposition at the time of the burning. Complete individuals were deposited in burned (Feature 38/1974) and unburned (Feature 30/1975) secondary interments while incomplete individuals were contained in other cremated (Features 7/1975, 9/1975, 12/1975, 19/1975, 24/1975, 30/1975, 41/1974, 42/1974) and unburned (Feature 39/1974) contexts. All cremation features contained at least some cremated faunal material with Feature 24/1974 representing the largest quantity of burned animal bone (981 g; 86.7% of feature weight). My analysis of the Turner Farm burials suggests that a shift from the interment of complete to incomplete individuals may have occurred. Further, the relative number of individuals secondarily interred signifies the importance of Turner Farm as a regional cemetery. I suggest that participation in a closed mating network (Wobst 1974, 1976) explains well the florescence of northeastern Late Archaic mortuary traditions. The discontinuity associated with the Susquehanna tradition in Maine may reflect an augmentation of ritual specificity functioning to increase mating network allegiance. Curation of individuals may serve to increase the number of ceremonial events associated with the mortuary ritual. Territoriality may be symbolized through participation in highly visible mortuary customs including cremation. In addition, the choice of coastal sites as the location for communal burial areas may functionally improve the position of marginally located groups within the mating network.
Subject Area
Archaeology|Cultural anthropology
Recommended Citation
Barbian, Lenore Therese, "A case study of Northeastern Late Archaic mortuary behavior: Turner Farm, Maine" (1994). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9434450.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9434450