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In the 19th century, headstones tended to have no decoration. However, from the 20th century, they might be replaced by more elaborately carved markers, such as crosses or angels.
OK, the statement was probably a bit strong. I was trying to make the point that older stones usually have some form of carved emblematic decoration, where as Victorian ones are much more diverse and don't necessarily. I'll see if I can find some sort of reference. Verica Atrebatum21:37, 11 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Gallery
The name on the black headstone in the gallery was blurred out to obscure the name, but it's still legible, at least the first and middle name. Just wanted to let you know... :) --Vlmastra03:37, 25 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]
There's absolutely zero history about the use of rocks as grave markers. Did stones start being used to mark graves in the 11th century? Or was it before homo sapiens and Neanderthals split? Or did Neanderthals invent it and humans got the idea from them? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.165.89.176 (talk) 01:57, 8 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Gallery tagged
Why was the gallery tagged as being inappropriate? While I get that Wikipedia is not a photo repository the policy reads: "[Wikipedia is not] Mere collections of photographs or media files with no text to go with the articles". There is text describing headstones from around the world and according to WP:IG, a gallery is appropriate "in some Wikipedia articles if a collection of images can illustrate aspects of a subject that cannot be easily or adequately described by text or individual images". What the gallery here shows is how different headstones can be from country to country and belief to belief, while I agree that there are a few images that could be removed or expanded on with a history of the stone, it doesn't seem to be a place where people just randomly insert photos of graves which is mainly why galleries are discouraged. Bhall87Four Scoreand Seven03:32, 8 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I've edited the opening to be a tad more encyclopedic, but think it could do with a bit of touching up, don't think my work is the best it could be. Wootcannon (talk) 18:04, 22 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I find the gallery
to be a bit random (and I am usually pro-random, so it must be (opinion) pretty bad). I am considering dividing the gallery into country of origin and seeing what it looks like at that point. Then perhaps chronologically within each country? Any thoughts? Einar aka Carptrash (talk) 15:48, 29 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I am also a bit confused as to exactly what in the second image (Singapore) is the headsone? Just the book? Does it include the frame? And how about the statue? Is that a part of the "headstone?" Left to my own devises I would remove the image, but I am not alone here (am I?) so will wait a bit for more opinions. Carptrash (talk) 16:53, 29 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
New Photo
I have come across this unusual gravemarker and feel, since I have never seen the like before, it might be unique enough to be included here. Long timber gravemarker.
These are generally known as "graveboards". They were fairly common at one time in south-east England, and often appear in old prints and photos, but not many survive. I'm not aware of much literature about them, but there is a survey/study project currently under way organised by Colin Bowlt of the London & Middlesex Archaeological Society: you might want to email him (c.bowlt@tiscali.co.uk) to make sure he knows about this one. GrindtXX (talk) 00:09, 7 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you, I have forwarded the picture. Russ Hamer 11:55, 26 September 2015 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rpriv2000 (talk • contribs)
Any References to "Headbore"?
I'm coming from Bábonymegyer where the word 'headbore' is linked to 'headstone' and directed here. Are there any references, even Hungarian published/translated ones, that lend credence to that decision?
The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
(c) Tombstone already (appropriately) links here, so this isn't any form of WP:NATURALDAB either. (If one were needed, which it ain't, funeral stela/stele would actually cover more ground and be more appropriate for cremated remains &c.) — LlywelynII 20:46, 19 May 2024 (UTC) — Relisting.BilledMammal (talk) 05:04, 27 May 2024 (UTC) — Relisting.BilledMammal (talk) 09:20, 3 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@65.92.244.237 and GrindtXX: For what it's worth, tombstone doesn't mean a stone attached to a tomb in any dialect of English (1, 2, 3). As linked, it's just the most common way to say gravestone among other English speakers, even if y'all yourselves think of tomb as a structure rather than a place. (Itself nonstandard. The older and still frequently default meaning of tomb is any grave, any place for the interment of the dead [1, 2, 3] and that's the sense being used by many native speakers when they talk about tombstones.) Since it is the more common term among most English speakers in all dialects, yeah, that's really where the article should be parked even if it feels 'off' given the way you parse it. — LlywelynII05:13, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
wikt:en:grave / wikt:en:tomb, yet the term grave is more appropriate, since you can set up a gravestone without digging the hole in the first place (the tomb). As some have set up gravestones in cemeteries, but in which the body was never recovered. It marks were the plot was purchased, and set up, and is now a memorial marker. Here this uses the diction for grave meaning death -- 65.92.244.237 (talk) 04:50, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Support "Gravestone". I was going to say something similar to the IP. I agree with the nominator "Headstone" is much too narrow. Strictly speaking, the article is about extramural grave markers, in a variety of media. However, "Grave marker" is a slightly obscure term that few readers are likely to search for. A "Tombstone" is part of a "tomb", which implies some kind of solidly built structure, more than just a grave. "Gravestone" is a bit broader, and seems the best compromise. GrindtXX (talk) 12:39, 22 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
There's a bit of OR there, no? A tombstone is not so much "part of a tomb" as a substitute for one. Whatever we go for, I think the subject is "Foostone", not wooden or metal crosses etc. "Grave marker", probably a technical term in cemetery management etc is both rather obscure, and too broad. I agree "extramural" is a key part of the definition, but User:LlywelynII doesn't - he reverted me when I added it to the lead. Johnbod (talk) 14:40, 22 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Ditto on the bit of OR. Tombstones aren't substitutes for tombs either. They're just the most common way to talk about any grave marker in any pretty much any format. (E.g., ... "tombstone was a wooden" ... does bring back Google hits, including "wooden stake". It ain't what you would call it but it is what some people default to.)
Individuals might make their own distinctions and we can note the more important and well-cited occasional distinctions in a #Name or #Names section of the article but the actual address should be parked at the WP:ENGLISHWP:COMMONNAME which (as linked) is tombstone. (If the article is subsequently edited to exclude some grave markers from what the WP:SCOPE of 'tombstone' should cover... well, that just means it's a fork off of the general grave marker article that would then be needed to cover the full range of subcategories... and regardless about your feelings about the rest of this paragraph leaving it at headstone would still be worse xD) — LlywelynII04:18, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Comment. I'm really not convinced by your ngrams, as "Tombstone" has far more alternative uses than "Gravestone" (the city in Arizona, a Bob Dylan song (Tombstone Blues), etc etc – see dab page and prefix page), which will have distorted the results. The (US) Association for Gravestone Studies seems to have no problem with "Gravestone". I'd personally be happy with "Grave marker", which is far more than a "technical term in cemetery management" (it's pretty widely used in historical/archaeological/sociological literature; and more accurately describes the present content of the article) – but I agree is probably not sufficiently widespread in common usage. GrindtXX (talk) 12:56, 3 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.