Ormond Mound
Encyclopedia
Ormond Mound is a Pre-Columbian
burial mound of the St. Johns culture
, in Ormond Beach
, Volusia County
, Florida
, US
.
, after A.D. 800.
A charnel house, a structure used to store bodies prior to burial, was located near the Ormond Mound. Charnel houses were used by the St. Johns people to prepare the corpses of mostly high-ranking and important people for the afterlife. The dead were laid out on wooden racks and allowed to decompose. A charnel house attendant, usually a high priest, would carefully remove the flesh from the bones as they decomposed.
After the bodies dried away, the charnel house priest would end up with individual sets of cleaned bones. Each set of bones was bundled up and buried in mounds during special ceremonies. This method accounts for the many skeletons found in burial mounds.
Pre-Columbian
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
burial mound of the St. Johns culture
St. Johns culture
The St. Johns culture was an archaeological culture in northeastern Florida, USA that lasted from about 500 BCE until shortly after European contact in the 17th century. The St. Johns culture was present along the St. Johns River and its tributaries The St. Johns culture was an archaeological...
, in Ormond Beach
Ormond Beach, Florida
Ormond Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. The population was 36,301 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 37,929. Ormond Beach is the northern neighbor of Daytona Beach and is home to Tomoka State Park.-History:Ormond Beach was...
, Volusia County
Volusia County, Florida
Volusia County is a county located in the state of Florida. The U.S. Census Bureau 2010 official county's population was 494,593 . Its county seat is DeLand, and its most populous city is currently Deltona....
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Overview
The Ormond Mound has been preserved as an intact burial mound in eastern Florida. The site was turned into a City Park in 1982 due to the efforts of the community.History
It has been estimated that over 100 individual burials are in Ormond Mound, based on salvage excavations that were conducted in 1982. Most of these remains were laid to rest during the late St. Johns periodSt. Johns culture
The St. Johns culture was an archaeological culture in northeastern Florida, USA that lasted from about 500 BCE until shortly after European contact in the 17th century. The St. Johns culture was present along the St. Johns River and its tributaries The St. Johns culture was an archaeological...
, after A.D. 800.
A charnel house, a structure used to store bodies prior to burial, was located near the Ormond Mound. Charnel houses were used by the St. Johns people to prepare the corpses of mostly high-ranking and important people for the afterlife. The dead were laid out on wooden racks and allowed to decompose. A charnel house attendant, usually a high priest, would carefully remove the flesh from the bones as they decomposed.
After the bodies dried away, the charnel house priest would end up with individual sets of cleaned bones. Each set of bones was bundled up and buried in mounds during special ceremonies. This method accounts for the many skeletons found in burial mounds.