Headstone

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For other uses, see Headstone (disambiguation).
“Tombstone” redirects here. For other uses, see Tombstone (disambiguation).
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Captain Andrew Drake (1684-1743) sandstone tombstone from the Stelton Baptist Church Cemetery in Edison, New Jersey
Captain Andrew Drake (1684-1743) sandstone tombstone from the Stelton Baptist Church Cemetery in Edison, New Jersey
Jarvis Andrew Lattin (1853-1941) granite tombstone from Powell Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York
Jarvis Andrew Lattin (1853-1941) granite tombstone from Powell Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York

A headstone, tombstone or gravestone is a permanent marker, normally carved from stone, placed over or next to the site of a burial in a cemetery or elsewhere.

Contents

[edit] Use

Originally, a tombstone was the stone lid of a stone coffin, or the coffin itself, and a gravestone was the stone slab that was laid over a grave. Now all three terms are also used for markers placed at the head of the grave. Originally graves in the 1700s also contained footstones to demarcate the foot end of the grave. Footstones were rarely carved with more than the deceased's initials and year of death, and many cemeteries and churchyards have removed them to make cutting the grass easier.

Graves and any related memorials are a focus for mourning and remembrance. The names of relatives are often added to a gravestone over the years, so that one marker may chronicle the passing of an entire family spread over decades. Since gravestones and a plot in a cemetery or churchyard cost money, they are also a symbol of wealth or prominence in a community. Some gravestones were even commissioned and erected to their own memory by people who were still living, as a testament to their wealth and status. In a Christian context, the very wealthy often erected elaborate memorials within churches rather than having simply external gravestones.

Crematoria frequently offer similar alternatives for families who do not have a grave to mark, but who want a focus for their mourning and for remembrance. Carved or cast commemorative plaques inside the crematorium for example may serve this purpose.

[edit] Materials

  • Fieldstones. The earliest markers for graves were natural fieldstone, some unmarked and others decorated or incised using a metal awl. Typical motifs for the carving included a cross and the deceased's name and age.
  • Granite. Granite is a hard stone and is difficult to carve. One method of carving is to use computer controlled rotary bits. Another method is sandblasting the stone while using hand cut masks to protect the areas to be kept smooth.
  • Iron. Iron grave markers were popular during the Victorian era in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, often being produced by the local blacksmith. Some survive in a much eroded state.
  • Marble. Marble replaced sandstone in the early 1800s. In geographical areas with high rainfall, the marble slowly dissolves in the slightly acidic rainwater and the inscriptions become unreadable.
  • Sandstone. In the 1600s in the United States sandstone replaced fieldstones. The material is durable yet soft enough to carve easily. Some sandstone markers are so well preserved that individual chisel marks can be discerned in the carving. Others have delaminated and crumbled into dust. Delamination occurs when water gets between the layers that make up the sandstone. As it freezes and expands the layers flake off.
  • Wood. This was a popular and relatively cheap material during the Georgian and Victorian era, and almost certainly before, in Great Britain and elsewhere. However, due to their eventual decomposition, few survive. In modern times, some UK cemeteries do not allow the placing of a wooden memorial for more than 6 months after burial, after which a stone memorial has to be placed.

[edit] Inscriptions

These markers are usually bear inscriptions: epitaphs in praise of the deceased and/or quotations from religious texts. In a few instances the inscription is in the form of a plea, admonishment, testament of faith, claim to fame or even a curse — William Shakespeare's inscription famously declares;

Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear,
To dig the dust enclosèd here.
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
And cursed be he that moves my bones.

The basic information on the headstone generally includes the name of the deceased and their date of birth and death. Such information can be useful to genealogists and local historians. Headstone engravers faced their own "Year 2000 problem" when still-living people, as many as 500,000 the United States alone, possessed headstones with pre-carved death dates beginning 19–.[1]

Modern gravestones may include framed photographs of the deceased; photographic images or artwork (showing the loved one, or some other image relevant to their life, interests or achievements) can now be engraved onto smooth stone surfaces. Many cemeteries, however, especially those surrounding historic churches or in conservation areas, have strict regulations as to the appropriate materials for a memorial, and may also forbid the use of artificial flowers in a floral tribute.

Gravestones which are well carved in hard-wearing stone may weather many centuries exposed in graveyards and still remain legible. Those which are fixed on the inside of churches, on the walls or on the floor (frequently as near to the altar as possible) may last much longer: such memorials were often embellished with a monumental brass. Cemeteries do, however, require maintenance, as over the centuries stones may topple and injure people, or graves may simply become overgrown and their markers lost or vandalised.

[edit] Form and decoration

Elaborately carved grave slab at Shebbear (Devon, England) showing a skull sprouting flowering shoots, as a symbol of resurrection
Elaborately carved grave slab at Shebbear (Devon, England) showing a skull sprouting flowering shoots, as a symbol of resurrection
Marble headstone of a couple buried together in Singapore, showing an arched emblem, signifying the reunification with one's partner in heaven.
Marble headstone of a couple buried together in Singapore, showing an arched emblem, signifying the reunification with one's partner in heaven.

Gravestones may be simple upright slabs with semi-circular, rounded, gabled, pointed-arched, pedimental, square or other shaped tops. During the 18th century, they were often decorated with memento mori (symbolic reminders of death) such as skulls or winged skulls (called "death's heads"), winged cherub heads, heavenly crowns, urns or the picks and shovels of the grave digger. Somewhat unusual were more elaborate allegorical figures, such as Old Father Time, or emblems of trade or status, or even some event from the life of the deceased (particularly how they died). Later in the same century, large tomb chests or smaller coped chests were commonly used by the gentry as a means of commemorating a number of members of the same family. In the 19th century, headstone styles became very diverse, ranging from plain to highly decorated. They might be replaced by more elaborately carved markers, such as crosses or angels. Simple curb surrounds, sometimes filled with glass chippings, were popular during the mid-20th century.

Some form of simple decoration is once more popular. Special emblems on tombstones indicate several familiar themes in the Christian faith. Some examples are:

[edit] Image Gallery

Headstones in the Japanese Cemetery in Broome, Western Australia

A cemetery in rural Spain

A typical late 20th century headstone in the United States

Headstone in an English cemetery

19th century marble headstone in an Iowa cemetery

18th century Biedermeier-Headstone from the St. Marx cemetery, Vienna, Austria

German POW
Camp Butler National Cemetery

The grave marker for Horatio Nelson Ball and his father, Joseph Ball, Jr. in the Grandville Cemetery, MI.

The grave of the Bristol slave known as Scipio Africanus has both head and foot stones. It has been restored to its original painted state

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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