The Evolution of Mortuary Artifact Assemblages from Historic Cemeteries in the Southeastern and Midwestern United States

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Mortuary artifact assemblages, including materials used to mark grave locations, hardware used in the construction of coffins and caskets, and items used to clothe and decorate the dead, range temporally, geographically, and culturally based on a variety of factors, including manufacturing advancements, access to goods, and adherence to cultural norms, among others. This paper discusses the evolution of gravemarkers, coffin and casket hardware, clothing, and other personal items associated with funerary practices, as viewed from the materials recovered during the archaeological excavation of late eighteenth through mid-twentieth century cemeteries in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SHA 2023 General Sessions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow