Источник: 15th International Congress of Speleology
Место публикации: Manchaca
Том:
Выпуск:
Страницы: 122-128
Web/Url:
№ полки:
Добавлено: Elmaz
Ключевые слова: Texas Caves, Ossuaries, США, Техас, археология
Источник:
Реферат: Human origins are viewable through caves; our time-encapsulated windows into the past, where life is often frozen in time. The bones and associated artifacts speak to us when recovered from open locations, rock shelters and shallow sinkholes, vertical shafts or caves. A review of human burial practices through the years will show us that variation. The study of human burials is important to mankind in general and because cavers are often at the point of discovery, they should be specifically aware of the potential for burials in caves. Vertical shafts are the focus of this paper for several reasons. Increasingly, caves are being both discovered and destroyed in the Texas Hill Country due to population increases and urban development. Vertical shaft caverns present a kind of site formation not found in open sites, shelters and crevice burials by offering less chance for subsequent human disturbance. Central Texas shaft burials appear to be more common than elsewhere in Texas although this may be an artifact of more intensive investigations by professionals, cavers and avocational archeologists. Data substantiates the premise that ossuaries are often the burial location of choice for prehistoric people while dating techniques indicate the practice continued for thousands of years. There are three possible contexts for human burial in Central Texas caves; they have either been placed in caves with care, dropped in from above when the walls are not climbable, or washed in from above or below via water or colluvial slope transport. Of importance to cavers is the fact that any vertical shaft excavation has the potential to produce human remains.