What we found in the dirt:

fragmentary adult inhumation  
laying within a burned, bell-shaped pit. 
the edges of the pit were highly oxidized,
and the pit was clearly
reused as a grave 
after an earlier use
as a roasting pit 
or some other type of pit
where burning took place.

the head was toward the east
and the feet to the west.
the body was semi-flexed,
lying on its right side
with the left hand 
near the left knee.

sex not determined.
age estimated 
based on the wear of one tooth 
and fusion
of the proximal epiphysis 

in the Preclassical period
bodies were burned
remains distributed
as inalienable possessions
within social networks 
suggests
a relational social construction
of self 
where burning
transformed the deceased
and remains
were considered part-person
and part-object

later 
cremated remains
were not divided
but instead transferred
as a unit
to secondary deposits.

perceptions of personhood appear
to have defined self
as a complete, bounded unit, 
even after transformation
by fire 
this change 
possibly a result of 
a general decrease in remembrance networks.

Abstract
Changing perspectives on concepts
of personhood are explored
by deconstructing mortuary customs
some aspects of personhood
do not change across time and space  
by analyzing changes through time
in cremation rituals, in recitations 
it was possible to infer 
that some aspects of personhood
do change. 

Addendum
all human remains
and burial effects
were repatriated
to the Tohono O'odham Nation
 
the historic era burials
at the Mission
were left in place, in denial

the city’s plan is to recreate
the old wall 
and re-consecrate
the area
the dirt
the graves
as a cemetery
so that the ancestors will
anchor and fold their ghostly sails
into the collective entity
of remembrance

(Found poetry/ArcheologySouthwest.org)

Michele Worthington