Mortuary Display and Status in a Nineteenth-Century Anglo-American Cemetery in Manassas, Virginia

Abstract

In this study of an Anglo-American cemetery used between the 1830s and 1907, contemporary mortuary trends and cultural attitudes toward death provide the historical context necessary to interpret variation in mortuary display. Analysis of skeletal remains provides information on dental caries, dental care, and enamel hypoplasia and allows comparison of the relatively high-status Weir family"s health with that of other population samples. Analysis of artifacts reveals four styles of grave decoration attributed not to intrasite status variability but to the appearance, peak, and decline of Victorian era cultural expressions of the "beautification" of death. Within this wider cultural trend, intersite comparisons may be made of status display. The rise and decline of the nineteenth-century ideal of the beautification of death adds vital cultural content for understanding the material expression of an observed process that is a cycle of display.

Organic staining on bone from exposure to wood and other plant materials

“…This cemetery, utilized from the 1830s to 1907, also contained burials with single coffins constructed of multiple species of wood as well as a burial with a wooden outer box of a different species than the coffin itself (Little et al 1992). The use of Pinus strobus in coffin construction was also seen in at least six of the twenty-two features excavated from the Meadowlark Cemetery in Kansas (Pye 2007).…”

“…in one of the burials of their family plot (Little et al 1992). This cemetery, utilized from the 1830s to 1907, also contained burials with single coffins constructed of multiple species of wood as well as a burial with a wooden outer box of a different species than the coffin itself (Little et al 1992).…”

Historic Archeological Investigations at Roberts Cemetery Near Troy, Bell County, Texas

“…as materials of manufacture, indirectly reflect aspects of socioeconomic class, status, and community involvement in the funeral process (Bell 1987(Bell , 1990Davidson 1999Davidson , 2004Little et al 1992;Pye 2007). Additionally, the specialized burial container hardware introduced into the archeological record in early-twentieth-century contexts reveals the deepening control of the professional funeral industry in the production and distribution of funeral merchandise.…”

"Ashes to Ashes and Dust to Dust": Observations on Human Skeletal Taphonomy at Two Historic Cemeteries in Northern Rhode Island

“…Ornamentation of coffins and extravagance in caskets, as well as extensive wakes, elaborate dress, and mortuary art, became outward expressions of "appropriate" mourning. This so-called "beautification of death" phenomenon (Bell 1990(Bell , 1991Little et al 1992) is evident at IN 88 through the presence of decorative tombstones, ornamental caskets, and the elaborate dress for a number of the deceased. This pattern of the treatment of the deceased clearly differentiates IN 86, the earlier of the two cemeteries under investigation, from IN 88.…”