Memorialisation: Taking a closer look at .

On first glance cemetery headstones appear to be of many different types and styles yet when we take a closer look we find that the many hundreds of headstones in our cemeteries can be categorised into about 8 or 9 basic styles. 1. Capped stone 2. Stele 3. Nameplate 4. Coped stone or tablet 5. Wall plaque Pedestal 6. Plaque 7. Block 8. Sculptured Cross 9. Pedestal with surmount. This resource set is designed to support students who are investigating the changing fashions in the shapes of memorials in our cemeteries and goes with Activity 3a of the memorialisation unit. There are student recording sheets included at the end of the resource set.

Identifying shapes of gravestones

Shapes of Gravestones Examples of capped-stones and stele

Capped Stone

Stele

Shapes of Gravestones
Examples of nameplates, coped-stones, wall plaques

Nameplate

Coped Stone

Wall Plaque

Shapes of Gravestones
Examples of nameplates, coped-stones, wall plaques

Plaque

Block

Cross

Shapes of Gravestones examples of pedestals

Pedestal

Student survey sheet Popularity of gravestone shapes across time

Block Numbers ________________________________
Gravestone types 1858 1870 1871 1880 1881 1890 1891 1900 19011910 1911 1920 1921 1930 1931 1940 1941 1950 1951 1960 1961 1970 1971 1980 1981 1990 1991 2000 2001 2010

Capped Stone

Stele

Student survey sheet Popularity of gravestone shapes across time

Block Numbers ________________________________
Gravestone types 1858 1870 1871 1880 1881 1890 1891 1900 1901 1911 1921 1931 1941 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Nameplate

Coped Stone

Wall Plaque

Plaque

Student survey sheet Popularity of gravestone shapes across time

Block Numbers ________________________________
Gravestone types 1858 1870 1871 1880 1881 1890 1891 1900 1901 1910 1911 1920 1921 1930 1931 1940 1941 1950 1951 1960 1961 1970 1971 1980 1981 1990 1991 2000 2001 2010

Block

Cross

Student survey sheet Popularity of gravestone shapes across time

Block Numbers ________________________________
Gravestone types 1858 1870 1871 1880 1881 1890 1891 1900 1901 1910 1911 1920 1921 1930 1931 1940 1941 1950 1951 1960 1961 1970 1971 1980 1981 1990 1991 2000 2001 2010

Pedestal

Resources

Betteridge, C. (2005). Conservation Plans: Northern and Southern Cemeteries. Unpublished report for Historic Cemeteries Conservation Trust of New Zealand.

Edgar, Philip G. (Dec 1995). Ideological choice in the gravestones of Dunedin's Southern Cemetery. A thesis submitted for a Master of Arts Degree, University of Otago.

Mytum, Harold. (2000). Analysing historic graveyards. Practical Handbook in Archaeology 15. York: Council for British Archaeology. Reprinted in 2008.

Sagazio, C. (Ed)(1992) Cemeteries: Our Heritage. National Trust of Australia (Victoria).

Note: Introduce students to a classification of headstone types using the Cemetery Architecture Slide set that is part of this resource. Both resources have utilised a slightly adapted version of Edgars classification of headstones. This is a simple and reliable one for use in New Zealand Historic Cemeteries by school students.