Post by Mary on Jul 13, 2009 17:48:32 GMT -5
THE TELLTALE GRAVE MARKERS
Does the word CEMETERY bring on a comfortable feeling? I would say for the majority of us it brings on a shiver and just feels….well, creepy! Does the thought of the embalmed and cremated dead or simply the remains of decomposing bodies give you the willies?
The word cemetery simply means a place to sleep, although, it is a permanent sleep-a final resting place.
Every culture has its ceremonies or rites or different religious beliefs about death. Take for example consecrated ground like that in a churchyard. A churchyard is usually adjacent to a church and only those faithful to the faith and members of the church get the privilege of being buried in hallowed ground. Similarly, Native Americans had their ideas, too. Their dead were buried underneath sacred, burial mounds.
Mass burials were not uncommon in the earlier centuries. Even today, with land resources dwindling, the tier system of burying is still being used, topping one body on top of the next. When it was discovered that disease and illness often had its origins from the decomposition of bodies buried close by a city or town, burying began to take place farther away from the living. And, of course, if we look to Europe, primarily the Catacombs, there are a multitude of skeletons housed in the ossuaries.
Many rural families still maintain family plots on their own properties. Generation after generation of family live on in close proximity to the family homestead.
As land becomes more scarce, many cemeteries are sold. Tombstones are removed and high rise buildings are constructed right over gravesites. Some conscientious corporations seek out relatives hoping they will move the remains of passed loved ones to another site. Those not claimed are usually mass buried.
So, wherever your feet take you, look down sometime and think about what is beneath the soles of your shoes. YOU MIGHT BE SURPRISED!
Sit back now and enjoy some unique gravestones along with their unique prose that still remains visible. They tell a story. They give us glimpses into the past and into the person for whom they were created……….