anatomy of a cemetery
- Shellie Taylor
- Feb 17
- 5 min read
I’ve had several people ask me about how I analyze a cemetery. When I visit historical cemeteries, I try to explain to the landowner how I am viewing the site, what I’m looking for, and how to determine if something is significant or not. Below are some of what I’m looking for:
· Layout/Depressions
· Stones
· Surrounding landscape
· Plants
· Abandoned paths/roads
Layout/Depressions
When I look at the layout of a cemetery, I’m looking for the traditional east/west positioning. Christian burials follow the belief that the deceased should be buried with their feet facing west and their head facing west, so they can witness the coming of Christ with the rising sun. This tradition actually goes back even farther and holds a similar meaning in African cultures. Burials were symbolic of a new beginning and had deep connections with the realm of ancestors who had passed on before. Knowing this background, you can expect to see the majority of cemeteries in America to be in the east/west orientation.
Stones are the most obvious way to determine the direction of graves, but in unmarked cemeteries, especially cemeteries of the enslaved, this can be harder to see. Most slaves and even the first few generations of free African Americans practiced burying bodies in cloth shrouds instead of coffins. Coffins were made of wood and could be costly and time-consuming to make. Shrouds were typically a cheaper, simpler, and faster way to bury. Without having the modern concrete vault required by most cemeteries or even the structure of a rectangle box, the earth will settle over time and cause the burial to sag into a depression. On a flat piece of open land (not in the woods), these depressions are usually visible, especially in the summer when green grass grows thicker in these ground recessions. They are still visible in a cemetery in the woods, but sometimes well-established tree roots can create the same type of depression and be misleading to an accurate count of graves.
This is all to say that grave analysis is not an exact science. Even if you’re using lidar or sonar technology to map the ground of a cemetery, root systems can give the illusion of being a burial and there’s no way to definitively decipher root cavities versus burials.
Stones
Stones are the best way to obtain a grave count. However, I don’t just count every stone I see. If a cemetery is close to a natural water source, I have to separate what I believe is an intentionally placed gravestone from river rocks. Fieldstones typically stick out of the ground and look like a marker. I also can’t just count every fieldstone without first determining if I think there is a header and a footer. Some graves have a main headstone and then a smaller stone is placed by the feet of the deceased. Two stones, but only one burial. Most of the time, these pairs are obvious. They are typically the same type of stone and if cut, most likely cut from the same source.
If I’m in a cemetery that contains markers with inscriptions, I try to look for headstones that have been broken. Specifically, 18th-century and early 19th-century family cemeteries used thin, tall stones which would easily break over time, especially if the land has transformed into a cow pasture. If I see a base of what is clearly a headstone, I will take a probe and look for the rest of the stone. The probe I use is just a metal pole that I can push into the ground. A headstone that has broken off and has been lying down for an extended period of time is not going to be in the earth very deep. Most stones I’ve dug up have only been 3-5 inches below the surface. I also don’t drag the pole while in the ground to avoid scratching the stone.
Surrounding Landscapes
Historic family cemeteries were traditionally located within 1000 feet of the family home, visible from the front or back porch or upstairs windows. When I am standing in the middle of an old early 19th century family graveyard, I try to envision what the landscape would have looked like at the time the family was living there. This is why research is important, both before and after site visits. Going to a site, it’s helpful to know if the family’s income was primarily from agriculture and farming, which is usually the case in my region of North Carolina. For more populated areas, like New England, most of those old cemeteries would have been in small towns, where the use of space was very strategic and limited. Understanding the familial and regional structure is important in determining how a cemetery would have looked when it was active.
Plants
I’ve talked about flora and fauna in my cemetery adventure posts on Instagram, and plants and wildlife make for great photography opportunities. The two most common plants found in cemeteries, and the two I look for when trying to find a cemetery, are yucca and periwinkle. Yucca is a tropical plant native to southern states like Florida and is traditionally found in African American cemeteries as alternatives to headstones. Periwinkle is a ground cover that was introduced to America from Europe. It was an easy plant to maintain and when used in place of grass, the cemetery doesn’t need to be mowed or pruned. It also grows in well-shaded areas, which is why I find it a lot in abandoned cemeteries that are in the woods.
Abandoned Paths/Roads
We all know that roads have changed over time. The introduction of the 911 emergency system in North Carolina in the 1980s changed the postal routes from numbers to street names. In the 1950s, the interstate system which spanned the country diverted many roads, split roads, or obliterated them completely. Our ancestors in the 18th and 19th centuries were using dirt paths for horses, wagons, and foot traffic. In fact, have you ever wondered why we drive on “parkways” and park on “driveways”? Because back in the day, parks were a very common gathering place and the trails that intersected throughout the park became known as parkways. Houses were typically far away from a main road, meaning that visitors would have to drive quite a long way from the road to the house, creating a driveway. These terms also give us an idea of how paths and roads worked.
Small family cemeteries would have served the immediate family living on the land, and as I mentioned earlier, these graveyards would have been close to the house. Chances are that an abandoned family cemetery is near to what would have been a driveway, or a road leading to the house. I’ve seen several cemeteries near an old roadbed that is still clearly visible, and sometimes even still used. These paths give us a better understanding of how the property would have been laid out when the cemetery was in use.
These are just some of the key elements that I look for when searching for cemeteries. Again, this is not an exact science, but when you have been visiting these sites for a while, you grow accustomed to seeing certain landmarks and indicators that let us see but a glimpse of the life in which our ancestors lived and died.