In the 10,000 + years of human occupation in the Americas there has been a huge variety of mourning rituals. It is through these death rituals that archaeologists get much of their information about these societies. Graves have been found all over the world by societies that we once thought to be too primitive to partake in these rituals. A 50,000 year old Neanderthal burial found in France proves that Neanderthals cared for the sick and elderly (the skeleton showed signs of hip and back problems) and that they were capable of developing rich cultures (Than 2013).

A common form of burial for North American Natives was the tree or scaffold burial. Scaffolds of 7 to 8 feet high are built to hold the dead far away from scavengers. The dead body is enclosed in its best robes which are closely sewn up. All of the preparation was done by the women as the men were not to touch or remain in proximity to the dead. If the deceased was important to the tribe, members may physically disfigure themselves by cutting off one or more joints of the fingers. The women would sing a death song and often set themselves up near the scaffold and wail loudly. Some tribes performed a second burial after decomposition took place. They would gather the bones and bury them near the village. There are many accounts of Europeans visiting these "savages" and complaining of the smell of decomposition coming from these burials (nanations.com).

There were many hardships in the early years of American colonization. There is no better example than that of the Jamestown colony. The years of 1609 to 1610 were known as "The Starving Time," a time in which about 80 percent of the colonists died. Archaeologists have found evidence that many of the colonists resorted to cannibalism in order to survive. The skull of a young woman was found with postmortem chop and cut marks. The back of her skull had been broken open with a cleaver. Other bones were found to have been cracked open. Nothing was spared. In recent years, scientist have used the skull to create a facial reconstruction of the girl that they call "Jane" (pictured above) (Neely 2013).

Much of what we know of funerals today was established in the 19th century. Victorian era Americans brought mourning into the mainstream. Mourning practices at this time served both societal and personal needs. It was during this time that physical mourning objects were made popular. These physical objects were a mechanism for dealing with the grief of death. Browne suggests that there are three main categories of 19th century mourning artifacts: memorial, ritualistic, and funereal (Browne, 1980, 296.) Many of these objects are found in museums today.

Memorial mourning pieces was extremely popular during this time. These included embroidered or painted memorial pictures. These were often made by educated, elite, young women. Most of these prints portrayed the traditional churchyard filled with mourners.

In addition to these paintings it was also popular to memorialize the dead in paintings done after the death. With the advent of photography, photographing the dead became a widespread practice. These portraits were most often of children as the infant mortality rate was exceptionally high during this time. Often paint was added to these photos to make the child appear more lifelike. Cheeks were painted pink and eyes were painted to appear open. They were often propped up as if alive. Most times this was the only picture the family had of the deceased so living family members were sometimes included in these photos.

Mourning jewelry was also very common and often made from hair of the deceased. Wreaths and floral arrangements were also made from hair and used as parlor ornaments.

Ritualistic mourning objects related to the practice of mourning rather than memorializing the dead. Mourning fell primarily on women and department stores took advantage of this. Etiquette books were written to explain how to properly mourn. This included behavior and dress. Mourning could be extremely expensive for a family. Women were to wear black crepe dresses with veils and appropriate jewelry. These mourning rituals were made popular by Queen Victoria (pictured here) who went into deep mourning after the death of her husband, Prince Albert.

The final mourning objects were funereal items. This was anything relating to the funeral itself. It was during this time that the "casket" was replaced with a "coffin." While the casket was vaguely body shaped, the coffin is rectangular, paralleling the rigidification of mourning customs (Browne 1980, 313). Along with this change there was a growing popularity in professional funeral direction. What used to fall to the family members in their homes was now taken on by professionals. Funeral directors would provide the coffin and prepare the deceased for burial, as well as provide a place for the viewing. It was also during this time that embalming became popular. During the civil war family members wanted to bring their deceased loved ones back home. In order to preserve the body long enough for the journey, there were often embalmers right on the battlefield. Embalming became increasingly popular after the death of Abraham Lincoln as his body was paraded across the country in order for revelers to pay their last respects (Lincoln's hearse pictured here). Rural cemeteries also became popular during this time, reflecting the increasingly secular ideals of society.