General Definitions for Burial Places

Cairn

    A mound of stones erected as a memorial or marker.
Catacomb

    An underground cemetery consisting of chambers or tunnels with recesses for graves. The most celebrated catacombs are those near Rome, Italy. Cairo and Paris also have catacombs.
Cenotaph

    A monument erected honoring a dead person whose remains lie elsewhere.
Crypt

    An underground vault or chamber, especially one beneath a church that is used as a burial place.
Grave

1. An excavation for the interment of a corpse.

2. A place of burial.
Mausoleum

    A large stately tomb or a building housing such a tomb or several tombs.
Tomb

1. A grave or other place of burial.

2. A vault or chamber for burial of the dead.

3. A monument commemorating the dead.
Sepulcher

    A burial vault.
Vault

    A burial chamber, especially when underground.

Monument Typology

Any structure placed over a grave should be considered a monument, whether it be a large elaborate tomb or a small wooden marker. For simplicity sake, we are dividing monuments into three separate categories; tombs, crypts, &c.; gravehouses and graveshelters; and the smaller markers such as headstones and footstones.

Tombs &c.

Megalith Style Monuments

A very large stone forming part of a prehistoric structure. Sometimes used to describe a grave monument. Four large stones (one at each corner of a grave) then might be called a megalithic monument or structure.

Rectangular (Box) Shaped Burial Monuments

Box Tomb (Slab), Box Grave, Chest Tomb

Stone Tomb (Riprap with Slab Top)

Slot and Tab Tomb (Slab)

Table Tomb (With Ledger Stone Slab Top), Pedestal Tomb

Triangular Monuments (cairns)

Coffin Shaped Tomb (Ashlar)

Shaped Stacked Stone Tomb (Ashlar)

Shaped Stacked Stone Tomb (Ashlar)

Stacked Stone Tomb (in disrepair)

    (Providence Baptist Cemetery, Mississippi)

Step-Stone Tomb (Large Stone) (Ashlar)

Step-Stone Tomb with Headstone and Footstone

    (Fulton Bridge Cemetery, Alabama)

Step-Stone Tomb (Large Stone) with Coffin Shaped Top (Ashlar)

Step-Stone Tomb (Small Stone) with Headstone (Ashlar)

Tent Grave (Slab Tent with Headstone and Footstone)

Tent Grave (Slab Tent without Headstone and Footstone)

Ledger Stone

Ledger Stone (Slab with Headstone and Footstone)

Ledger Stone (Slab without Headstone and Footstone)

Coffin Shaped Ledger Stone

    (Fulton Bridge Cemetery, Alabama)

Ledger Stone (Slab without Inscription)

Gravehouses and Graveshelters
   (grave-box, grave-house, gravehouse, grave shed, grave shelter, lattice hut, spirit house)

Gravehouse (Wood on a Stone Foundation)

Grave Shelter (Wood)

Lychgate, lich gate

Usual Gravehouse Materials

Brick

Concrete, also called “Cement”

Field Stone (fieldstone)

Limestone

Marble

Native Stone

Sandstone

Soapstone

Wood

Grave Markers, Head Stone Types
  Common Architectural Arch Types

Common and not so Common Gravemarker Materials

Brick

Bronze

Cast Iron

Ceramic

Concrete, also improperly called “Cement”

Field Stone (fieldstone)

Granite

Limestone

Marble

Native Stone

Sandstone

Soapstone

White Bronze (zinc)

Wood

Common Marker Shapes

Roundtop

Column

Cross

Monolith

Monument

Obelisk

Pillar

Pyramid

Star of David

Foot Stone (footstone)

Head Stone (headstone)

Ledger Stone

Plinth (a base for a column, tomb, or gravemarker)

Stone

Table Stone

Tomb Stone (tombstone)

Epitaph

1. An inscription on a tombstone or grave marker, in memory of the one buried there.

    Samples:

Her spirit smiles from that bright shore And softly whispers, “weep no more”    Grave of Lockey M. Keaton (1843-1922)    Providence Cemetery Warren Co. TN Behold and see as you pass by As you are now so once was I As I am now you soon must be Prepare to die and follow me I bore the cross and layed it down, Gone home to heaven to wear the crown    Grave of Luther Vance Lance (1899-1918)    Oak Grove Cemetery, Warren Co. TN RIP; requiescat in pace; rest in peace; Riposa in Pace.

Adornments for Tombs and Markers

Christian

Crosses
Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.)
Jewish
Masonic, (Free and Accepted Masons - F.& A.M.)
Memento Mori (Dark Memento)

A reminder of death or mortality, especially a death-head or an angel of death.

Hatchment

A diamond-shaped panel or escutcheon bearing the coat of arms of a deceased person. Occasionally seen carved on headstones.