This reminds me of an incident a while back when I was excavating a large cliff dwelling in Canyon de Chelly. Like most of the sites of this type, I knew there were more recent Navajo burials and I was concerned about how we would deal with them. My Navajo foreman, a really wonderful and unique individual, also had the same concerns.

When we met for the first time, he straightaway asked me not to excavate a particular room because a young baby, dying during a hard winter freeze, had been buried there "not very long ago." It was the only unfrozen ground available, being bone dry.

I had worked out this marvelous (in my mind, at least) random sampling scheme for excavating the site,and, naturally, this room was on the list. Needless to say, plans were changed.

About all I can add further to this rollicking discussion is to praise the body bag. Being around remains can be very disconcerting, particularly if the end was violent. Placing the body in the bag allows one to get on with the business of transportation and life gets back to normal.