Grave Symbols GRAVE SYMBOLS VISUAL FIELD GUIDE
Monument atlas

57 grave marker forms and materials

Distinguish tablets, ledgers, box tombs, obelisks, enclosures, mausoleums and material clues before interpreting decoration.

Original field-guide illustration of Above-Ground Tomb
Tomb form

Above-Ground Tomb

a tomb whose principal structure rises above grade

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Original field-guide illustration of Altar Tomb
Tomb form

Altar Tomb

a raised, altar-like rectangular tomb

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Original field-guide illustration of Bedstead Grave
Enclosure form

Bedstead Grave

a grave enclosure with headboard-like and footboard-like elements

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Original field-guide illustration of Bevel Marker
Marker form

Bevel Marker

a low marker with a slightly sloped face

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Original field-guide illustration of Box Tomb
Tomb form

Box Tomb

a rectangular above-ground masonry enclosure, usually not a stone coffin

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Original field-guide illustration of Broken Column Monument
Monument form

Broken Column Monument

a deliberately broken classical column

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Original field-guide illustration of Bronze Marker
Material form

Bronze Marker

a cast bronze plaque, often set flat or attached to stone

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Original field-guide illustration of Burial Vault
Tomb form

Burial Vault

a lined underground chamber or outer burial container

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Original field-guide illustration of Cairn
Monument form

Cairn

a mound or stack of stones used as a memorial or grave marker

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Original field-guide illustration of Cenotaph
Memorial form

Cenotaph

a memorial for someone whose remains are elsewhere

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Original field-guide illustration of Chest Tomb
Tomb form

Chest Tomb

a chest-shaped monument or above-ground tomb

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Original field-guide illustration of Columbarium
Building form

Columbarium

a structure with niches for cremated remains

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Original field-guide illustration of Column Monument
Monument form

Column Monument

a classical column used as a complete memorial form

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Original field-guide illustration of Companion Marker
Marker form

Companion Marker

a single marker designed for two people

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Original field-guide illustration of Coping Enclosure
Enclosure form

Coping Enclosure

stone coping outlining a family or individual plot

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Original field-guide illustration of Cradle Grave
Enclosure form

Cradle Grave

a head-and-foot marker joined by side rails, resembling a cradle or bed

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Original field-guide illustration of Cross-Shaped Monument
Monument form

Cross-Shaped Monument

a monument whose overall form is a cross

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Original field-guide illustration of Fieldstone Marker
Marker form

Fieldstone Marker

an unshaped or lightly shaped local stone used to mark a grave

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Original field-guide illustration of Footstone
Marker form

Footstone

a smaller marker at the foot of a grave

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Original field-guide illustration of Gothic-Arched Headstone
Marker form

Gothic-Arched Headstone

a marker with a pointed Gothic arch

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Original field-guide illustration of Granite Headstone
Material form

Granite Headstone

a durable crystalline-stone marker common in modern cemeteries

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Original field-guide illustration of Grave Curb
Enclosure form

Grave Curb

a low border defining the grave's perimeter

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Original field-guide illustration of Grave House
Building form

Grave House

a small protective structure built over a grave

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Original field-guide illustration of Grave Mound
Landform form

Grave Mound

an earth mound marking the burial

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Original field-guide illustration of Heart-Shaped Monument
Monument form

Heart-Shaped Monument

a marker formed as a heart or dominated by a heart profile

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Original field-guide illustration of Iron Fence Plot
Enclosure form

Iron Fence Plot

a grave or family plot enclosed by ironwork

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Original field-guide illustration of Kerbed Grave
Enclosure form

Kerbed Grave

a grave enclosed by stone or concrete kerbs

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Original field-guide illustration of Lawn-Level Marker
Marker form

Lawn-Level Marker

a flat marker installed flush with the ground

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Original field-guide illustration of Ledger Stone
Slab form

Ledger Stone

a flat slab covering most or all of a grave

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Original field-guide illustration of Marble Headstone
Material form

Marble Headstone

a marker made from marble

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Original field-guide illustration of Mausoleum
Building form

Mausoleum

a building containing one or more tombs or crypts

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Original field-guide illustration of Memorial Bench
Memorial form

Memorial Bench

a functional seat carrying a commemorative inscription

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Original field-guide illustration of Memorial Boulder
Monument form

Memorial Boulder

a natural boulder used as an inscribed marker

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Original field-guide illustration of Military Flat Marker
Military form

Military Flat Marker

a standardized flat government-furnished marker in granite, marble or bronze

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Original field-guide illustration of Military Upright Headstone
Military form

Military Upright Headstone

a standardized upright government-furnished marker

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Original field-guide illustration of Mortsafe
Protection form

Mortsafe

an iron cage or heavy stone device historically used to deter grave robbery

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Original field-guide illustration of Niche Marker
Marker form

Niche Marker

a plaque designed for a columbarium niche

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Original field-guide illustration of Obelisk
Monument form

Obelisk

a tall, tapering four-sided monument with a pyramidal top

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Original field-guide illustration of Open-Book Monument
Monument form

Open-Book Monument

a monument shaped as an open book

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Original field-guide illustration of Pedestal Monument
Monument form

Pedestal Monument

a multi-part monument organized around a base, die and cap

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Original field-guide illustration of Pillow Marker
Marker form

Pillow Marker

a low, gently sloped stone resembling a pillow

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Original field-guide illustration of Round-Top Headstone
Marker form

Round-Top Headstone

a marker with a semicircular top

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Original field-guide illustration of Sandstone Headstone
Material form

Sandstone Headstone

a marker made from sandstone

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Original field-guide illustration of Sarcophagus
Tomb form

Sarcophagus

a coffin-shaped stone monument or actual stone coffin

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Original field-guide illustration of Scroll-Top Headstone
Marker form

Scroll-Top Headstone

a marker with rolled or scroll-like shoulders or top

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Original field-guide illustration of Shouldered Headstone
Marker form

Shouldered Headstone

a tablet whose top narrows through curved or angled shoulders

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Original field-guide illustration of Slant Marker
Marker form

Slant Marker

a low upright marker with a strongly sloped face

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Original field-guide illustration of Slate Headstone
Material form

Slate Headstone

a marker carved from fine-grained slate

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Original field-guide illustration of Stećak Chest
Stecci form

Stećak Chest

a chest-like monolithic medieval tombstone

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Original field-guide illustration of Stećak Gabled Form
Stecci form

Stećak Gabled Form

a stećak shaped with a ridged or house-like roof

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Original field-guide illustration of Stećak Pillar
Stecci form

Stećak Pillar

an upright pillar form within the stećci tradition

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Original field-guide illustration of Stećak Slab
Stecci form

Stećak Slab

a recumbent medieval tombstone form from Southeast Europe

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Original field-guide illustration of Stele
Marker form

Stele

an upright slab or carved standing stone

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Original field-guide illustration of Table Tomb
Tomb form

Table Tomb

a horizontal stone slab raised on supports

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Original field-guide illustration of Tree-Stump Monument
Monument form

Tree-Stump Monument

a naturalistic monument carved like a cut trunk or log

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Original field-guide illustration of Upright Headstone
Marker form

Upright Headstone

a vertical tablet placed at the head of a grave

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Original field-guide illustration of White Bronze Monument
Material form

White Bronze Monument

a hollow cast-zinc monument marketed as “white bronze”

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