Toward A Partial Understanding Of Complexity In Arikara Mortuary Practice

Abstract

Ethnohistorical references on Arikara mortuary practice are summarized, and the recently proposed hypothesis that Arikara mortuary practice was more complex than previously suspected is evaluated. In addition, the ethnohistorical sources are reinterpreted, and it is proposed that some Arikara mortuary complexity was directly related to season of death.