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Cities Stocks Weather Movies Coupons Travel Blogs Health Horoscope Maps ASIA EUROPE Classifieds Yellow PagesFor other uses, see Headstone (disambiguation).
"Tombstone" redirects here. For other uses, see Tombstone (disambiguation).
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The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page. |
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.
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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. Note however that in many UK cemeteries the principal, and indeed only, marker is placed at the foot of the grave.
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.
Most types of building materials have been used at some time as markers. The more usual materials include:
A cemetery may follow national codes of practice or independently prescribe the size and use of certain materials, especially if in a conservation area. Some may limit the placing of a wooden memorial to 6 months after burial, after which a more permanent memorial should be placed. Others may require stones to be of a certain shape or position to facilitate grass-cutting by machines, or hand-held cutters. Cemeteries require regular inspection and maintenance, as stones may settle, topple and, on rare occasions, fall and injure people Memorial safety; or graves may simply become overgrown and their markers lost or vandalised. Restoration is a specialised job for a monumental mason; even the removal of overgrowth needs care to avoid damaging the carving. For example, ivy should only be cut at the base roots and left to naturally die off, and never pulled off forcefully.
Or a warning about Mortality, such as this Persian poetry carved on an ancient tombstone in the Tajiki capital of Dushanbe.Information Clearinghouse Robert Fisk: "An urge to smash history into tiny pieces" Information Clearing House The Independent, 08 September 2007
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. Larger cemeteries may require a discrete reference code as well to help accurately fix the location for maintenance. The cemetery owner, church, or, as in the UK, national guidelines might encourage the use of \'tasteful\' and accurate wording in inscriptions.
Headstone engravers faced their own "Year 2000 problem" when still-living people, as many as 500,000 the United States alone, pre-purchased headstones with pre-carved death dates beginning 19–.Grave Problem
Bas-relief carvings of a religious nature or of a profile of the deceased can be seen on headstones dating from before the 1800s. Since the invention of photography, a gravestone might include a framed photograph or cameo of the deceased; photographic images or artwork (showing the loved one, or some other image relevant to their life, interests or achievements) are sometimes now engraved onto smooth stone surfaces.
Some headstones use lettering made of white metal fixed into the stone, which is easy to read but can be damaged by ivy or frost. Deep carvings on a 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.
Marker inscriptions have also been used for political purposes, such as the grave marker installed in January 2008 at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky by Mathew Prescott, an employee of terrorist group PETA. The grave marker is located near the grave of KFC founder Harlan Sanders and bears the acrostic message “KFC tortures birds.” PETA Takes Fight to Col. Sanders\'s Grave The group placed its grave marker to promote its contention that KFC is cruel to chickens.
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. Within the arch is a statue of Jesus Christ.
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 many faiths. Some examples are:
Greek letters might also be used:
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Headstones in the Japanese Cemetery in Broome, Western Australia |
A cemetery in rural Spain |
A typical late 20th century headstone in the United States |
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Headstone in an English cemetery |
19th century marble headstone in an Iowa cemetery |
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18th century Biedermeier-Headstone from the St. Marx cemetery, Vienna, Austria |
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German POW |
The grave marker for Horatio Nelson Ball and his father, Joseph Ball, Jr. in the Grandville Cemetery, MI. |
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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 |
Headstone for a dog at Tatton Park, Cheshire, UK. |
A grave marker in Douglas County, Kansas made to resemble a millstone. |
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C0569-Kstovo-Muslim-cemetery.jpg
Muslim Tatars of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast use peculiarly shaped wooden posts as grave markers |
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