Children's Grave Markers in Ross Bay Cemetery

1) For our data, we chose to look at graves of children under the age of 10 who died in the 19^th and 20^th   century. All gravestones came from Ross Bay Cemetery, Victoria.

2)The question we set out to answer was how are the dead of the young memorialized and represented through the use of grave markers?  Another question worth considering is do children’s memorials in Ross bay from the 19^th and 20^th century look different from those of adults?

3)For our monument analysis assignment, our group set out to Ross Bay cemetery with an interest in finding out how children’s graves were chosen to be represented through grave markers, and in particular, what these markers are made of, and what is illustrated on them. We focussed on children under the age of ten who had passed away in the 19^th and early 20^th century. To conduct our field work, myself and three other group members scoured Ross Bay Cemetery looking for the graves of the young. We photographed these markers so they could be referred back to, and mapped in their approximate location.

We found that all children’s grave markers were made of cement, concrete, marble, granite, or a combination of two. Cement was the material most commonly used for grave stones, most likely because it is cheaper, and stands the test of time. In some cases, cement was used as the base of a gravestone that was made of marble or granite, to keep it secure in its place in the ground. We did find that cement and concrete tended to show signs of wear and cracking, while marble and granite aged quite well, showing minimal signs of stress.

We also found that a few of the grave markers of children were represented by engravings, or carvings on the gravestone itself. These were of flowers, wreaths, sleeping lambs, sleeping babies, or in one case, a carved baby chair out of stone. In Heather Mckillop’s article, “Recognizing Children’s Graves in Nineteenth-Century Cemeteries”, she explains that the use of a sleeping lamb on a children’s gravestone was to depict innocence and nature (Mckillop, 94), while also tapping in to the 19^th century Christian mentality of death as sleeping (McKillop, 94). We found the gravestone represented by a granite baby chair quite fascinating and unlike anything most of us had seen in a graveyard. Mckillop explains in her article that the baby chair is often used to represent the infant’s connection to the home. Similarly, she states that the use of the sleeping baby image was used as a way of remembering the sleeping child, so that their family could use the figure as a connection to their lost loved one (Mckillop, 95).

Engraved messages were obviously very common to represent the graves of infants, such as “A little hero”, “In loving remembrance of our little pet”, “Our darling baby”, “Sisters reunited”, and “Asleep in Jesus”. Using words such as “little” and “darling” are a common way to memorialize a child’s grave because of the connotation it has with delicate and innocent. Mckillop states that “...the death of a child was seen as an inspiration to help one live a better life on earth in expectation of that glorious reunion.” (Mckillop, 93). This explains the significance to the engraving “Sisters reunited”. You can tell that it was very important to the woman who died 80 years after her beloved younger sister, who had died at the age of 2, to live a good life so she could be reunited with her younger sister in the afterlife. The engraving “Asleep in Jesus” again taps into Mckillop’s explanation that death was seen as merely being asleep.

In conclusion, our findings did result in an answer to our research question. Children’s graves in the 19^th and 20^th century were represented through different materials, carved figures, and engravings that were chosen in a way to best memorialized their lost, young, loved one. Our research was derived from Victoria’s Ross Bay Cemetery, but I think what we have learned could be applied to a broader area. For future research, it would be interesting to take what we have learned from this study, and use it to compare with adult grave markers in the 19^th and 20^th century to see how their memorials differ.

Bibliography

Mckillop, H., Recognizing Children’s Graves in Nineteenth Century Cemeteries: excavations in St. Thomas Churchyard, Belleville, Ontario, Canada. Historical Archaeology, Vol.29(2), pp. 77-99. 

Link to Monument Map:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&vps=2&jsv=310c&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=212371223124508187137.00049bba7e0bb83bc8985

Status in the Archaeological Context

When studying an ancient society or one that is a part of our modern world, Archaeologists always seem to be interested in the status of the deceased.  Status is generally defined as a stratified social order that humans tend to be organized within. There are many kinds of status such as polical, religious, economic, or status based on your age or gender that you are either ascribed (born in to) or acheived (gradually earned throughout your life time).  There are many other kinds of status that effect our everyday life without even realizing it.  For example, corporate status, status within your household or family, status based on your education or even status based on how famous you are.  Our society seems to be obsessed with it, and without knowing it, most of the tasks we accomplish in life are aimed at increasing our status.
When measuring the status of a deceased indidvidual, archaeologists generally look at the quality, rarity, and abundance of grave goods, osteology (healthier bones can mean higher status), shaping of the cranium and feet, evidence of continual modification or up-keep of the grave, monuments, or the amount of space their grave site is alotted.  All of these things can give us an indication of the individuals status, but archaeologists can never be too sure.  Grave goods could have been placed there by somebody else, the grave could have been looted, or items that are known today as ordinary, or inexpensive could have meant something completely different to that particular culture or society thousands of years ago.  It is important to assess the entire social context when indicating status.