#CLST6 #Project2
Investigating a section of the Hanover Cemetery gave me insight into the US society. A cemetery provides a good sample but is not necessarily representative of the whole society (Bahn). So, it would be safer to talk about the Hanover community specifically.
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The section I chose to focus on contained 39 graves. The location of this section shown on the plan of the Hanover Cemetery is attached. A more detailed sketch by me showing the arrangement of the graves and my numbering system is also provided next to it.
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I analyzed these 39 graves in regards to six attributes, specifically: material, sex, age, description, symbol, size, period. My definition and standardization of these attributes could be found below.
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My approach was an etic approach rather than an emic one since I used my preconceived notions about culture and superimposed upon the data (Knudson).
Also, I refrained from using the full names of people in order to show respect to the community.
Here is the table of graves:
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First, a general observation I made: all of the graves were underground. This indicates that this society might have believed that humans had a connection with soil-either the idea that they come from and go back to soil or a general connection to the Earth.
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Also, there were no obstacles preventing visitors from stepping on to where the deceased are buried. So this society most probably believed that the souls of the deceased were going somewhere else after death. Otherwise it'd be considered disrespectful to walk over them.
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Another interesting inference I made was about children. As it can be seen from graves #2#10#22#25#37, children were probably not named before reaching a certain age. Graves #2 and #10 were only labeled as "infant son, 0 years old" and "babes"(no age) respectively.
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Graves #22#25#37, had names attached to them, and all were of children above the age of 1.
Maybe the infanticide rate was high and people didn't want to get emotionally attached. Maybe they associated "humanness" with a trait developed only after a certain month-e.g. speaking.
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When we look more closely at grave #25, two additional things could be noticed: the description of the deceased and the symbol on the grave. First, the symbol-a book: It was probably not symbolizing education or literacy considering that the deceased was 3 when she died.
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Perhaps, it was a holy book. Speaking of religion: there were several other religious symbols on graves. A prominent one is this huge cross on grave #1. Considering its size & the crown-like symbol in the emblem on the grave, this person might've been a Christian clergyman.
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A symbol that I interpreted as being religious is the upward pointing finger on grave #26.
Assuming-based on numerous crosses viewed-that Christianity was widespread here, this hand might be pointing to "heaven"-indicating that it is where this person's soul went.
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Now, let's go back to my other point about grave #25 and consider it in conjunction with grave #26. Do you notice the common point? Both women are identified based on the males in their lives (daughter/wife of X). I found that this applied to almost every women in my sample.
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Images of several other examples(#17#33#34) are attached.
This phenomenon shows that this society was a patriarchal society and that women did not really have their own identities but were rather viewed as objects/entities belonging to men.
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Another interesting detail about grave #34 was the vase-like symbol because the same symbol was observed in 5 other graves as well. And these graves did not belong to those with familial relations so it needs to have a more universal meaning. Images are of graves #29#34#35.
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These vase-like symbols remind me of the ancient Greek amphorae found in graves. So maybe they indicated that the owners of these graves were cremated. Or maybe they were simply a popular decorative motive.
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Now, the description on grave #35 brings me to my last point.
It is specified that the person lying in this grave was a colonel (hence the "Col."), which means that military officers were regarded highly in this society.
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The only other instance where occupation was specified is seen on grave #29.
This woman is described as the wife of a lawyer ("Esq.").
We can infer that judiciary processes & military operations were valued in this society, since people in these fields were regarded highly.
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Overall, it was a really enlightening experience to investigate this cemetery. There were many other interesting graves that I didn't really get to talk about.
I am sorry in advance if this thread offended any relatives of the deceased that are being talked about here.
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