Ohio's Bird Effigy Symbolized the Souls Journey to the Afterlife
Bird effigy within this circular earthwork was surrounded by several mounds.
A bird is usually
symbolic of death and helping the deceased find their way from this
life to the next. The bird effigies within the circular works at
Newark and nearby at the Yost Works have been the sites of charnel
houses with the birds representing and assuring that the deceased
would find their way to the other world.
Bird effigy inside of the large henge at Newar k
This idea is reiterated at
the Great Henge at Newark that has a bird effigy in its center
aligned to the east and within its center contained the remains of
several charnel houses. A charnel house was a place in which the dead
were brought and either remained in state until the bones were
defleshed and subsequently cremated or bones may have been brought
from another location for cremation or left in a bundle and covered
with earth. Others may were placed extended on a clay platform with
their accompaniment of grave goods and covered by earth, forming the
mound.
The bird effigy at Newark is aligned to the May 1st sunrise that has been intepreted as the 'renewal of life.'
