Page 47 - KBHA Bulletin 10

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CEMETERIES, TOMBSTONES AND GHOSTS OF OLD KALK BAY

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF GRAVEYARDS

Andy Smith

In most societies disposal of the dead is usually done by burial. Most often this takes
place within a short time after death, for health reasons, but can also be done after the

body has been exposed to the elements, and the flesh either fallen off the bones, or eaten
by carrion birds. An example of this was to be found among the Huron of Ontario

before European settlement. Skeletons were accumulated over a period of time, and all

buried together at a huge ceremony, resulting in what has become known as ‘ossuaries’.

Elaborate burials are usually the sign of wealth, but in Ghana the most important time in

a person’s life is their death, when they go on to meet the ancestors. Young people can
go into debt for the rest of their lives just to give their parents an appropriate send off,

because if this is not done at their own death their spirit might not be at rest. The
Ghanaian coffins are elaborate affairs and generally symbolize some aspect of the dead

person’s life. A huge beer bottle might represent how sociable a person was, or a
Mercedes-Benz (with lights that flash) might be for an important man in the society, or

a sewing machine for a seamstress. All these are made of wood, and are a true folk art -

an example is on display at The World of Birds in Hout Bay.

To archaeologists and physical anthropologists, individual burial has the advantage of
identifying discrete traits, and with modern burial practices in the Western World,

tombstones provide an easy way of dating the skeleton.

The style and decoration on tombstones reflect the world-view of the times when a

person died, and change with belief and fashion. An example of a dated sequence from