Gravestone Symbols - Sandra Dupree

Read the Gravestones on the Hill
by Argent_Moon

Over the centuries, the act of burying the dead has evolved. Evidence of Neanderthal man burying his dead in pits deep inside caves has been found. In biblical times, bodies were for the most part placed in the ground and the hole was covered with stones, to protect the body from wild animals. Of course, the pyramids in Egypt are shining examples of the world’s largest gravestones. But none of us are likely to be conducting ghost hunts in the pyramids anytime soon. Very often you’ll be in a cemetery, surrounded by the interred bodies of the dead. The graves will be adorned with some sort of stone marker, bearing words and symbols. These gravestones are a way for the dead to speak, to tell us of their life, and in a way achieve immortality. Early cemeteries were scattered graves near the family home. Churchyards later became crowded with the buried dead. The 1900's brought park-like settings of grassy tranquility. The markers for the graves in the cemeteries have evolved as well. The first markers were rocks and boulders superstitiously piled on the graves to keep the dead from rising (and to keep animals from disturbing the body). Later markers were made of wood or rough stone. These primitive gravestones did not fare well in the elements. The first markings on gravestones were simple, telling only the name, age and year of death. Gradually, more elaborate carvings were added. By looking at the gravestones, their inscriptions and their carvings, you can learn more about the dead than you ever realized.

Gravestones before 1800 were usually slender, square sandstone or slate slabs. Between 1830 and 1860, more elaborate sculptured stones of white marble were used. These stones were and are subject to growths of obscuring and damaging lichen and moss. From 1860 to 1880, gravestones tended to be square, massive marble stones of elaborate shapes or with decorative, ornate sculptures. The period between 1880 and 1910 brought the use of soft grey granite for gravestones. Unfortunately this type of stone was extremely subject to weathering. Starting in 1910 and continuing to the present, granite or marble has been used. (As an aside, stillborn children were often remembered with only a very small stone, sometimes blank, othertimes with only initials carved on it. )Due to the requirements of grounds keeping at the modern park-like cemeteries, the stones are devolving back to simple polished granite or marble, lying flat on the ground and inscribed with only names and dates of birth and death. Once you’ve seen the haunting beauty of the ornately decorated gravestones of the past, you can’t help but lament that they seem to be truly and forever of the past.

The words inscribed on a gravestone will tell you a lot about the person the stone honors. Some are carved with a short biography about the person. Even a one line epitaph tells you what the deceased’s survivors thought of him. The sheer number of words on the stone can give you a clue about the one buried there. After all, if you’re hiring a stonecutter by the letter, lots of letters equals lots of money. Look at the name of the person itself. This can give you all kinds of clues about their life.

If you find a stone or stones that interests you, research the last name. You’ll find out all kinds of things. Take the name “Yarbrough” for example. I found this name as a maiden name on very interesting stone once. Yarbrough was originally an old family name from the south of England. In America it became a low-country name, the Charleston, SC area of rice plantations. It is one of the families that heavily subsidized the production of rice on the Charles River in the 18th century. You can therefore surmise that the woman buried there was from a wealthy family. And her husband would have been of wealth, also. He would have had to be. The Yarbrough name wouldn’t have come cheap.

First names give you clues about the person too. Names like Patience, Charity and Faith were popular during colonial days. This same idea, naming for virtues of character you wanted the child to emulate, was continued by slave owners in the 18th century. But with a twist. They gave their slaves first names that were often adjectives made from nouns, as in Patient, Charitable, and Faithful. It was a practice which in some cases jumped the line between black and white, most frequently in families which owned slaves. So if you see a name like “Thankful Ann” in a traditionally non-black cemetery , with dates in the late 18th to early 19th century, you can pretty well guess that her family were slave owners. Post -Emancipation, the first generation of African-Americans with the freedom to name themselves often chose names which would normally be considered titles or professions, so, you’ll come across names like Doctor Smith, or Prince Jones. If you find an unusual or interesting name, write it down and do some research later. You might be surprised at what you discover.

One type of inscription you might come across is one that puzzled me at first, until a learned friend enlightened me. In a certain cemetery, I kept finding the word “Consort” being used to describe the female part of a couple buried side by side. All I could think was that this was highly unusual, to see someone’s “consort” named so openly in a church graveyard, since I was thinking “consort” meant an unmarried “companion”. Turns out, it had a whole other meaning, that was tied up with religious thought and political leanings. Consort is actually a term of royalty. Prince Phillip, for example, is actually formally known as Queen Elizabeth’s consort. It was also used when referring to the partners of deities. The connection between them has fallen out of favor with modern Christians. Popular in the 1700s was the doctrine of the “co-regency of man”. The idea was that humanity has a brotherhood with Christ, consequently, joint heirs with him. Therefore, we are, like him, rulers of a certain domain, both spiritual and physical. This notion is what propelled the “Age of Exploration”, because you can’t rule it if you haven’t discovered it yet. It led to the American notion of Manifest Destiny, that the nation should, by divine right, extend as far west as the Pacific. So, if a man’s a king, his wife is, by philosophical definition, his consort. Seeing the word “Consort” on someone’s gravestone tells you a whole lot about their religion and their political stand. Just as an aside, the reason Americans don’t talk about co-regency anymore in a large part is because it’s one of the bedrocks of Islam. No one knew that in the 1700s.

Not all of the stories that you find in cemeteries are written in words . The figures and pictures on the stones also tell us a story. Markers in the 1600s were typically inscribed with stark skull-and-crossbone markings, the ancient symbol of death. These figures represented a sense of awe about death and a fear of dying that people during that time period often had. By the 1700s, the crossbones were beginning to be replaced by wings. The resulting image was called “death’s head”. The wings were introducing the idea of flight from the earth, or life after death. Gradually, sculptors emphasized life over death, and the skulls became angels. During the mid 19th century the stones were used to convey themes that emphasized eternity, rebirth, and the experience of the deceased.

Learning the meanings behind the myriad of symbols carved on gravestones will give you new insight into the lives led by those buried in a cemetery. Broken columns, inverted torches, and urns were images of lives that ended too soon. An hourglass with wings represents the fleeting passage of time. Wheat or a sickle shows the reaping of the soul. The weeping willow tree was a popular symbol used in the Victorian era. It stood for mourning and the idea that man, like a tree, must reach for heaven. Included here is an extensive list of gravestone carvings and their symbolic meanings. It’s by no means complete, but will certainly help you as you explore cemeteries, not just looking for the spirits of the dead, but for knowledge of their lives. The dead still have their stories to tell. Listen to them speak.

Sandra Dupree
aka Argent Moon

COMMONLY SEEN GRAVESTONE SYMBOLS
by Argent_Moon

Highlighted items are links to pictures.

Anchor - seafaring profession; Hope; wrapped in vines it represents firm Christian faith.

Angel - Flying it would mean rebirth or resurrection; Trumpeting means resurrection; Weeping symbolizes grief and mourning. An angel is the messenger between god and man.

Ankh - Reincarnation, peace, eternal life.

Arches - Victory in death.

Arrow - Mortality; martyrdom.

Bible (Holy Book) - Wisdom; divine word of God; personal accomplishment. Two holy books on a Mormon grave indicates the Bible and Book of Mormon. Three holy books on a Mormon grave indicates the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine & Convenants.

Bird - Eternal life. If it’s flying, it stands for eternal life.

Bouquets/flowers - Morning of life; renewal of life; condolences; grief; sorrow.

Broken column - Loss of the head of a family; end of life; sorrow; a life cut short; the eventual ruin or decomposition of us all.

Broken ring - Family circle severed.

Buds/Rosebud - Morning of life; the renewal of life.

Bugles - Resurrection; the military.

Butterfly - Short lived; an early death.

Caduceus - (Two snakes entwined around a staff) The symbol of a physician or a healer.

Candle being snuffed - Time; mortality.

Chain links (3) - The divine trinity.

Cherub - Angelic; young child.

Coffin, Father Time, Picks and Shovels - Mortality.

Columns - Heavenly entrance.

Corn - Ripe old age.

Crescent Moon - Virginity; rebirth; victory.

Cross - Emblem of faith.

Crossed Swords - High-ranking military person.

Crown - Glory of life after death; righteousness.

Cup or Chalice - The Sacraments.

D

Door - Heavenly entrance.

Dove - Purity; devotion; innocence; gentleness; peace; the holy ghost.

Dragon - Imperial power; universe; chaos.

Draped Urn - Sorrow; mourning.

Drapes - Mourning; mortality.

Eye of God - God sees all.

Flame or light - Life; resurrection.

Flower - Fragility of life; with a severed stem it represents a shortened life.

Flying birds- Flight of the soul.

Freemason symbols:
Laurel leaves and branches - represent special achievement and distinction.
The square - represents morality.
Chain links - are the Goodfellows organization symbol.
Eastern Star - a member of a Freemason group for women.

Fruits - Eternal plenty.

Full-blown Rose - Prime of life.

Garland - Victory in death.

Grim Reaper - Death personified.

Gun - Served in the Military

Hands pointing up - pathway to heaven; heavenly reward.
Hands clasped - the goodbyes said at death.
Hand of God chopping - Sudden death.
Handshake - Farewell; friendship; unity; partnership.
Hand on the neck - Sacrifice.
Hand and eye - Clairvoyance.
Praying - Prayer; hope for the afterlife.
Holding - Marriage, farewell.

Harp - Praise to the maker.

Heart - Love; love of god; seat of the soul; mortality.

Horns - The resurrection.

Horse - love of horses; horseback riding.

Hourglass - The swift passing of time. If flying- time flies, short life.

Hummingbird - Wisdom; joy; happiness.

IHS - Found often on Celtic crosses, IHS is taken from the Greek “in hoc salus” which literally means “there is safety in this”. In the Middle Ages, this was incorrectly interpreted as meaning “Jesus Hominum Salvatore” or “Jesus Savior of Mankind”, since the first three letters in the Greek spelling of Jesus are IHS.

Imps - Mortality.

Inverted Torch - Extinction of life; death.

Ivy - Immortality, Friendship, Faithfulness.

Lamb - Innocence; purity; gentleness; sacrifice; most often found on the graves of children or stillborn babies.

Laurel branch and leaves - Special achievement, distinction; success; heroism.

Lily or Lily of the Valley - Virgin; innocence; purity; resurrection.

Leaves - regeneration; immortality; friendship.

Lion - Courage.

Lotus - Purity; resurrection; evolution; potential.

Lyre - Harmony and heavenly accord; music and song in praise of god.

Morning Glory - Beginning of life.

Oak leaves/acorn - Maturity; ripe old age.

Open book/bible - Deceased teacher or minister.

Pall - Mortality

Palm Tree or branch - Victory; rejoicing; righteousness; resurrection; martyrdom.
Pick- Death; Mortality.

Pine cones - Full long life with children.

Poppy - Sleep.

Portals - Passageway to eternal life.

Pyramid - Eternal life, resurrection

Rod/Staff - Comfort for the bereaved.

Rooster - Awakening; resurrection.

Rose - Completion; brevity of earthly existence; perfection.

Scythe - Death; the divine harvest.

Seashell - Resurrection; life everlasting; life’s pilgrimage.

Sextant - Navigator; explorer.

Sheaf of wheat - Ripe for the harvest; divine harvest.

Ship - Hope; seafaring profession; faith will carry you through life.

Shriner symbols -
Crescent moon
Scimitar
Star - divine presence; enlightenment; human aspiration.
Urn

Skull - Mortality.

Skull/Crossed bones - Death.

Skeleton - Life’s brevity.

Snake(tail in mouth) - Everlasting life in heaven.

Spade - Mortality; death.

Stars and Stripes around an Eagle - Eternal vigilance; Liberty.

Sun - Rising means renewed life; Shining means life everlasting; Setting means death.

Thistle - Scottish descent.

Thistles - Remembrance.

Tomb - Mortality.

Torch - Inverted it represents death and a life cut short. Right side up it represents life, truth, intelligence and regeneration.

Tree - Life.

Tree trunk - Brevity of life.

Tree trunk leaning - Short interrupted life.

Tree stump - Life interrupted.

Tree stump with ivy - Head of family; immortality.

Tree sprouting - Life everlasting.

Trumpets - Heralds of the resurrection.

Urn - Immortality

Urn with Blaze - Undying friendship.

Urn with Wreath or Crepe - Mourning.

Weeping willow tree - Perpetual mourning; grief; Nature’s lament.

Wheat - The divine harvest; reap what we sow.

Willows - Earthly sorrow.

Winged face - Effigy of the deceased soul; the soul in flight.

Winged Skull - Flight of the soul from mortal man.

Winged Sun disk - Lifegiving power of the sun; spiritual attributes of the heavens.

Woman with Anchor - Masonic symbol of hope.

Wreath - Victory.

Wreath on Skull - Victory of death over life.

TRANSLATIONS

"ricordo dei buoni fattori" is roughly translated from the Italian as "remember the good things"

Tu spociva is Croatian or Austrian for "there rests" or "here lies"

in pace comes from either the Latin "requiscat in pace" or the Italian "riposa in pace" both meaning Rest in Peace. We get RIP from the Latin.

momento mori translates to remember death

fugit hora translates to time flys

Genealogy Sites

http://www.rootsweb.com/~cemetery/pennsylvania/pennsyl.html

http://www.silogic.com/genealogy/

Gravestone Genealogy

http://www.headstonesgenealogy.com/

Gravestone Studies

http://www.gravestonestudies.org/welcome.htm

Other Great Sites for Symbols

http://ghosts.wiccanroad.com/Stone.htm

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