Logo
Prev
Bookmark
Rotate
Print
Next
Contents
All Pages
Related Articles
Browse Issues
Help
Search
Home
'
National Geographic : 1919 Apr
Contents
TIIERE IS NO VISIBLE MEANS OF INGRESS TO THIS TEMPLE, WITH ITS COLUMNED PORTICO AND BROKEN COLUMNS: THE VILLAGE OF MARTCHAN (SEE ALSO PAGES 308-309) The absence of means of ingress is only apparent; for, as the disintegration of the stone is going on all the while, the cones are necessarily growing smaller, and the original finger and-toe holes have simply rotted away. said to be heavy-armed wear circular shields made of raw ox-hide and carry clubs that are decorated with iron-plated knobs; but the rest of them use bows and spears. MUCH MERRYMAKING AT TROGLODYTE FUNERALS "Their mode of burial is very singular. They bind together the neck and the knees of the dead person with withes made from the thornbush; then they carry the corpse thus bound up to a place at some distance from the camp, where with laughter and with merriment they hurl upon it stones as large as they can hold in their hands, until they succeed in covering and concealing the body with the stones. As the final ceremony they place a goat's horn upon the heap, and then go to their several homes without the display of the slightest kindly feeling. "They do not fight, as the Greeks do, about land or about accusations which some one has made against them, but they do fight about the various pasture grounds which from time to time succeed each other according to the season. In these fights they begin by hurling stones at each other; then, after some of them have been wounded, they betake them to their bows and arrows. Many of them are soon killed, because they are experts in the use of these weapons and they shoot accurately, and moreover the men at whom they shoot are unprotected by defensive armor. "Eventually the old women throw themselves into the midst of the fray, and as they are held in great reverence, they soon put an end to the fights. For a custom prevails. among the Troglodytes which forbids them to strike a woman under any circumstances whatsoever, and in consequence of this custom the fight ing ceases as soon as the women appear upon the scene.
Links
Archive
1919 May
1919 Mar
Navigation
Previous Page
Next Page