30 field guides
Practical methods for identification, photography, transcription, genealogy, conservation and honest use of uncertain evidence.
How to Identify a Gravestone Symbol
A repeatable field method for moving from visual description to a cautious, source-backed identification.
4 steps02How to Read a Weathered Inscription
A low-impact workflow for photographing, lighting and transcribing hard-to-read lettering without touching the stone.
4 steps03Cemetery Photography Field Guide
Practical composition, lighting, metadata and respect guidance for researchers using phones or cameras.
4 steps04Cemetery Etiquette for Researchers
How to research respectfully around families, services, private property and culturally sensitive burial places.
4 steps05Why Gravestone Meanings Are Not a Codebook
An explanation of ambiguity, catalog designs, regional traditions and why certainty labels matter.
4 steps06Evidence Levels Used by Grave Symbols
The site's documented, strong, contextual and disputed labels, with examples of what each permits you to conclude.
4 steps07How to Research a Fraternal Grave Emblem
A method for confirming lodge identity through exact emblems, initials, numbers, obituaries and rosters.
4 steps08Woodmen of the World Headstones
How to distinguish organization-linked stump monuments from the wider tree-stump fashion.
4 steps09Odd Fellows Symbols on Gravestones
Three links, F-L-T, lodge numbers and related Rebekah imagery.
4 steps10Masonic Symbols on Gravestones
How to identify square-and-compasses compositions without treating every eye, column or star as Masonic.
4 steps11Reading Jewish Gravestone Symbols
A context-first introduction to Kohen hands, Levite pitchers, candelabra, Hebrew abbreviations and dates.
4 steps12Reading Christian Cross Types
A visual comparison of common cross structures and the limits of denominational inference.
4 steps13Veterans Headstone Emblems
How official belief emblems differ from social, civic, professional and military insignia on U.S. government markers.
4 steps14How to Research a Military Grave
A workflow connecting marker details to service records, unit histories and veterans organizations.
4 steps15Children's Gravestone Symbols
How lambs, doves, cherubs, buds and empty furniture are used—and why age must come from dates and records.
4 steps16Victorian Cemetery Symbolism
A guide to revival styles, flower language, mourning figures and catalog-driven monument design.
4 steps17From Death's Head to Urn and Willow
How early mortality imagery shifted toward soul effigies, cherubs and neoclassical mourning motifs.
4 steps18How to Date a Gravestone by Material
What slate, sandstone, marble, granite, bronze and cast zinc can—and cannot—tell you.
4 steps19White Bronze Cemetery Monuments
An identification guide to cast-zinc monuments, removable panels and blue-gray surfaces.
4 steps20Stećci: Medieval Tombstone Forms
An introduction to the slabs, chests, gabled forms, pillars, reliefs and inscriptions of Southeast Europe's stećci.
4 steps21How to Document a Cemetery Plot
A repeatable field-sheet system for names, coordinates, relationships, conditions and photographs.
4 steps22Field Notes Without an Account
How the site's private, browser-local notebook works, including exports and device limitations.
4 steps23How to Transcribe a Gravestone
Conventions for line breaks, damaged letters, supplied text, abbreviations and date formats.
4 steps24Cemetery Rubbings: Risks and Alternatives
Why fragile surfaces, permissions and conservation concerns make photography and raking light safer defaults.
4 steps25How to Clean a Gravestone Safely
A preservation-first summary: permission, condition assessment, water, soft brushes and the gentlest means possible.
4 steps26What Never to Do to a Historic Headstone
A clear list of damaging practices: bleach, acids, wire brushes, power tools, pressure washing, chalk and untrained repairs.
4 steps27How to Find a Monument Maker's Signature
Where to look for carver, foundry and monument-company marks and how they support dating and attribution.
4 steps28How to Compare Neighboring Gravestones
Using family plots, repeated carvers, catalog designs and cemetery sections as a controlled comparison set.
4 steps29Building a Source-Backed Symbol Interpretation
A template for turning a visual clue into a documented research note rather than an unsupported claim.
4 steps30Using Cemetery Symbols in Genealogy
How symbol clues can lead to church, lodge, military, occupational and family records without replacing primary evidence.
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