Cemetery, graveyard, churchyard, boneyard, potter’s field, burial ground, final resting place, necropolis, marble town. There are so many different terms for the places where we bury our dead that the differences between them become blurred. Google Book’s NGram Viewer allows us to see how often some common terms for burial places have been published in... Continue Reading →
As long as we have been aware of our own mortality, humans have transferred their fear of death onto the dead. Stories of ghosts and spirits risen from the grave have been passed down through centuries, and even today many shudder at the thought of passing by a graveyard at night. Later, with the dawning... Continue Reading →
Learning to ‘read’ a cemetery is like learning to read a foreign language. Depending on the social, cultural, and historical context of the burial ground, the symbols and information conveyed will represent much different ideas. Even when we look back to a culture that spoke the same language and held the same religion as the... Continue Reading →
Playing Marbles for Keeps 