Americas

The Americas are home to a vast and diverse array of tombs, reflecting the complex social and spiritual beliefs of its many cultures over millennia. In North America, the monumental earthworks of the Mississippian culture, often categorized under Mound Builder burials, served as sacred ceremonial centers and elite resting places. Key sites include the Cahokia Mound burials near modern-day St. Louis, and the Etowah Mound burials in Georgia, where leaders were interred with rich grave goods signifying their power and connection to the spirit world.

In Mesoamerica, tombs were frequently integrated into the heart of pyramidal temples, emphasizing the divine status of rulers. The Maya are renowned for such sepulchers, including the Tomb of Pakal within the Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque, and the Tomb of the Red Queen at the same site. At the great city of Tikal, the royal tombs found within towering temples reveal a long dynastic history, while at Copan, the intricate royal burials further illustrate Maya funerary sophistication.

Further south in the Andes, ancient civilizations interred their elites with extraordinary wealth and ceremony. Among the earliest is the sacred center of Caral, while the later Chavin de Huantar tombs relate to a influential religious cult. The spectacular Lord of Sipan tomb, part of the broader Royal Tombs of Sipan in Peru, represents one of the richest pre-Columbian burials ever discovered. In the Inca empire, sites like the Machu Picchu royal tomb and the Temple of the Sun burials in Cusco were dedicated to veneration of royalty and deities.

The continent also holds tombs of great historical figures from the colonial and modern eras. These range from the debated final resting place of the Aztec emperor, the Tomb of Montezuma II, to the memorials of liberators and heroes like the Tomb of Simon Bolivar in Caracas and the Tomb of Jose Marti in Havana. In Buenos Aires, the Tomb of Eva Peron remains a site of profound national pilgrimage, while many nations honor their fallen with sites such as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.