Mortuary Monuments and Archaeology: Current Research

Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2020

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Mortuary Monuments and Archaeology: Current Research," at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Since Dethlefsen and Deetz published their seminal works on New England graveyard monuments, archaeologists have consistently contributed to the multi-disciplinary field of memorial studies, providing anthropological and wider comparative perspectives against the often more contextual, particularistic studies of art historians and folk life scholars. This session considers the diversity of both data sets and approaches to memorials by archaeologists today, and thereby seeks to place the results of such studies within the wider concerns of historical archaeology. Given the non-destructive fieldwork involved in the study of mortuary monuments this is an excellent field in which to encourage student and community groups to participate in engaging with historical archaeology in a particular locality, but on the other hand large-scale research and CRM projects can enable study of very large data sets to examine questions on a different scale.

Other Keywords
Cemetery • Memorial • death • Monument • Recording • CRM • Mortuary Studies • Cemeteries • Unmarked Graves • Gravestones

Temporal Keywords
19th Century • Modern • Nineteenth Century • 18th - 20th Century • 1918 • Contemporary • Post-medieval

Geographic Keywords
Coahuila (State / Territory) • New Mexico (State / Territory) • Oklahoma (State / Territory) • Arizona (State / Territory) • Texas (State / Territory) • Sonora (State / Territory) • United States of America (Country) • Chihuahua (State / Territory) • Nuevo Leon (State / Territory) • Delaware (State / Territory)

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-9 of 9)

  • Documents (9)
Documents
  • All the Vaults of the City Cemeteries are Piled High with Coffins: Discovering Victims of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic (2020)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Mark Nonestied.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Mortuary Monuments and Archaeology: Current Research" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. A small plot of land in the southeast corner of Washington Monumental Cemetery was reputed to contain victims of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. In some respects, this area of the cemetery had characteristics of lots within Rural Cemeteries that were often located within the rear and reserved for those of less financial...

  • The Archaeology of Pet Taxidermy (2020)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Eric Tourigny.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Mortuary Monuments and Archaeology: Current Research" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The 19th century is considered a watershed for changing human-animal relationships in North America and Europe. During this time, pets occupied increasingly central roles within households, animal welfare institutions became more widespread and animal breeding practices were standardized. In Victorian Britain, public pet...

  • DEBS: Using Digital Tools in Graveyard Recording (2020)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Julian D Richards. Debbie Maxwell. Toby Pillatt. Gareth Beale. Nicole Smith.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Mortuary Monuments and Archaeology: Current Research" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Discovering England's Burial Spaces (DEBS) is an Historic England funded project hosted by the Centre for Digital Heritage, Digital Creativity Labs and the Archaeology Data Service at the University of York, in collaboration with the Universities of Glasgow and Liverpool. We are working with community groups to develop new...

  • An International Mortuary Monument Recording System - From Site Analysis to International Comparative Studies (2020)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Harold Mytum.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Mortuary Monuments and Archaeology: Current Research" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The Council for British Archaeology system (Mytum 2000) of recording memorials has been updated and expanded to cope with many international contexts. This paper outlines the principles of the recording system, and the ways in which data can be digitally archived, a challenge for many graveyard and cemetery projects thus...

  • Is Anyone Out There? Survey and Research Techniques for CRM Projects when Burial Grounds/Cemeteries Border Construction Projects. (2020)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Robert Dean. Mickey Dobbin.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Mortuary Monuments and Archaeology: Current Research" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. In 2017, the Cultural Resource Survey Program at the New York State Museum conducted a CRM survey prior to highway construction along the front edge of the Elbridge Rural Cemetery. Some of the first pioneers of the town of Elbridge, including several Revolutionary War veterans are buried in this nondenominational cemetery....

  • Mourning and Remembering: Memorials at a Pet Cemetery in Oulu, Finland (2020)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Janne Ikäheimo. Tiina Äikäs. Riitta-Marja Leinonen.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Mortuary Monuments and Archaeology: Current Research" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Contrary to socially and legislatively controlled human burial grounds with organized maintenance, pet cemeteries with their inherent do-it-yourself character are often stages for more spontaneous expressions of grief and longing. The evidence of remembering varies from nearly unmarked graves to elaborate memorials with...

  • Now You See It, Now You Don’t (2020)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Anne Giesecke.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Mortuary Monuments and Archaeology: Current Research" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The recoding and digitizing of cemetery data is necessary for preservation of the information and a challenge. In 1976, we collected data on three 18th century graveyards in New Hampshire and we have the original files.   In 2015, we returned to rerecord these cemeteries. The cemeteries are Gumpus Hill in Pelham; Thornton...

  • The Rural Cemetery Movement and Collective Memory (2020)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Jeffrey Smith.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Mortuary Monuments and Archaeology: Current Research" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The Rural Cemetery Movement represented a radical departure in the ways people thought about and interacted with burial spaces, expanding beyond burial spaces only into places people visited on a regular basis. As such, they became not just burial grounds alone, but community assets. As a place where people visit for...

  • A Tale of Two Cemeteries: Death and Bereavement in Late 19th Century Central Florida (2020)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Theresa J. Gallo. Diane Wallman.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Mortuary Monuments and Archaeology: Current Research" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Cemeteries are important reservoirs of historic and cultural information, and the anthropological study of these spaces provide insights into their religious, symbolic, and cultural significance. Cemeteries also give insight into health, morbidity, and mortality in the past. This research examines two late-19th century...