Facilities for the dead - burial pits (East St. Louis Cemetery burial pits).

Another pit type is that intended to contain human remains, the burial pit. Unlike the elite who were often placed in special charnel houses and mounds, commoners were buried in small pits. Nevertheless, it would be a mistake to conclude that commoners were any less reverential towards their dead than were the elite. Some were buried in isolated pits near the home, some in town cemeteries, and others on the bluffs overlooking the American Bottom. Also, some individuals are found as bundle burials and exhibit cut marks on bones indicative of cutting ligaments to facilitate folding of partially desicated and decomposed bodies. These bundle burials are referred to secondary burials. Most individuals, however, were buried once, in the flesh and on their backs.

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