How Can You Identify Indian Burial Grounds?

Native American burial grounds are typically identified by bone fragments and ancient artifacts found in the earth in an area where Native Americans may have lived. Burial grounds are sometimes destroyed in the process of modern construction, leading to protests and outrage that goes ignored by some companies.

A Native American burial ground is a type of cemetery where the markers were made of more primitive materials that degraded over time. These locations are sometimes forgotten, and the expansion of civilization only stumbles across them by chance. Archaeologists try to preserve and record these locations, sometimes racing against the demands of large companies that wish to construct buildings on unknown historical sites.

Burial grounds are used by many cultures, with modern cemeteries being the most easily recognized in the United States. These are very similar to the so-called Indian burial grounds, with the key differences being the use of coffins and more extravagant and long-lasting grave markers.

Superstitions exist surrounding the phrase “Indian burial ground” that bring to mind hauntings and other supernatural events. These beliefs arose in the wake of the taboo that comes with uprooting these sites and the outrage of the descendants of the site’s tribe. Many media productions in movies, television and radio have been created that reference the idea of a building being cursed if it is built atop a Native American burial ground.