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CONTACT:

Dr. Julie Rugg
Centre for Housing Policy
University of York
Heslington
York
Y010 5DD


T: 01904 321480
F: 01904 321481
jr10@york.ac.uk

 

 

What makes a cemetery a cemetery?

Very little thought has been given to the definition of different types of burial space, and a CRG paper on the subject was published in Mortality in 2000. The following table summarises some of the key variables that can be employed in characterising the spaces for interment, including cemeteries, churchyards, war cemeteries, mass burial, burial grounds and pantheons. The four variables were: physical characteristics, ownership and purpose, sacredness, and the identity of the deceased. The table has been reproduced here as a tool for generating discussion about the nature of any burial space, and identifies a series of basic research questions on any site chosen for study.

Type of burial space
Physical characteristics
Ownership and purpose
Sacredness
Identity of the deceased
Cemetery
  • location close to/outside to settlement
  • larger size
  • gate and boundary
  • internal demarcation
  • varied ownership but principally secular
  • purpose varied over time
  • burial of an entire community
  • presence of the recently bereaved
  • local pilgrimage over generations
  • permanence
  • protecting and celebrating some individual identities;
  • corpose integrity key
Churchyard
  • location close to/within settlement
  • smaller size
  • gate
  • limited internal demarcation
  • Church ownership
  • spiritual benefits accrued from usage
  • burial of an exclusive community
  • religious ritual
  • local pilgrimage
  • limited pilgrimage in recent time erodes sacredness
  • lacking permanence
  • congregation more important than individual;
  • corpse integrity not key
Burial ground
  • location close to settlement
  • size varied
  • physical characteristics differentiated
  • ownership by distinctive sub-group
  • purpose including ethnic, national, religious expression
  • burial of a defined sub-community
  • possible religious ritual
  • limited pilgrimage over time eradicates sacredness
  • lacking permanence
  • distinctive group identity celebrated;
  • importance of corpse identity variable
Mass burial
  • location not connected to settlement
  • small size
  • no external or internal demarcation
  • no ownership
  • purposes varied but including exigency, punishment and the concealment of murder or genocide
  • limited original pilgrimage
  • may accrue national or international pilgrimage over time
  • may gain permanence depending on politics
  • no acknowledgement of identity; punishment through anonymity and random placement
War cemetery
  • location in war zone
  • size variable
  • gate and boundary with uniform design features
  • strict internal demarcation
  • national ownership
  • practical and national political purposes
  • national and international pilgrimage
  • permanence dependent on politics
  • political meaning attached to corpose identity and integrity
Pantheon
  • variable physical characteristics
  • national ownerhsip
  • national political purposes
  • sacred through presence of 'celebrity dead'
  • national and international pilgrimage
  • corpse not always present; corpse integrity not important

 

 
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