Essay - Evolution of New England Puritan Gravestone Symbols the Evolution of...

Evolution of New England Puritan Gravestone Symbols

The evolution ***** Puritan New ***** gravestone symbols (e.g., death heads, cherubs, and urn ***** willows), inscriptions, borders, and finials, styles popular in ***** England from approximately1620-1820.

By compar*****g seriation charts from a v*****riety of colonial Puritan cemeteries, one can b*****in to see that changes in style may be connected to a broader cultural context.

There is no universal agreement among scholars regarding the relationship *****tween the symbols on Puritan gravest*****s and ideology. James Deetz, Allan Ludwig, and Peter Benes all link gravest*****e style to a larger cultural context but David D. H***** challenges th***** interpretation by suggesting that this type of research is reading *****o much into ***** meanings of mere designs and decoration ("Nonchronological Sources ***** Variation in the Seriation of ***** Motifs in the Nor*****ast and Southeast Colonies."). Over the years, through direct observation ***** seriation charts, experts have generally agreed with ***** interpretation ***** *****, Ludwig, and Benes. From my observations of four cemeteries and approximately seventy stones, all of the early Puritan gravestones are facing east, many ***** two sm*****er stones (called "footstones") in front. These stones ********** to represent a bed in which ***** deceased can more easily rise when God appears from the east on the Judgment Day to save ***** chosen ones from eternal damnation.

Through my seriation chart I have also determined that the stylistic evolution ***** death head to cherub reflects the exact time period in which the Great Awakening (1735-1750) brought about a change in ***** attitudes *****ward life, *****, ***** the afterlife. The ***** in inscription from "Here Lies ____" to "In memory of ____," during this time period also suggests a connection between gravestone iconography and ***** ***** cultural and religious context. And the later (1780-1820) ***** secular design of ***** urn ***** willow, with its classical Greek symbols could be interpreted as ********** ***** an emerging spirit of democracy *****d republic--a civic religion!

My seriation ***** has also revealed some interesting data concerning the question of whether a change in the popularity of a style would more likely occur in larger urban centers as compared to outlying areas, particularly coastal areas. The conventional wisdom would conclude that ***** ***** would most likely occur in the urban area because of ***** greater cosmopolitanism, but ***** research suggests ***** reverse. This may be explained ***** the likelihood that the urban ***** religious leaders may see a change in ***** iconography as a challenge or threat and would do their best to retard this symbol change. My seriation data ***** the cemetery in Harvard Square, a b*****tion of Puritan religious and intellectual power, *****ms ***** demonstrate ***** point. The death head style remains popular in ***** Square ***** later than elsewhere. In fact, the stylistic evolution seems to go al***** directly from death head ***** urn and willow.

Bibliography

Roots Web. "Colonial Arlington Source Records?" RootsWeb 1 May 1997. 1 Oct. ********** ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/nj/hudson/

Gorman, Frederick, and Michael DiBlasi. "Nonchronological Sources of *****