Burial 16

Oyster shell at head of Burial #16 coffin.  Photograph by Ryan Gray, courtesy of UNO Department of Anthropology and Sociology.

During the 2011 excavations, while many of the burials had distinctive features, one in particular stood out for a number of reasons.  Even before the coffin was recovered and the human remains analyzed, an oyster shell was recovered where it had been intentionally placed in the grave shaft at the head of the coffin.  The usage of shells in African American burial traditions has previously been suggested as related to African-derived traditions linking water to a transition between the material and spiritual realms.