6.6: Cemeteries

Cemeteries are common landscapes that function often as religious or sacred space, though they too are often regulated and maintained by the public. How a society treats corpses, and how they treat the places where the dead are buried (if they bury their dead) may reveal a great deal about the religion of the people who build them.

Figure 6-33: Prague, CZ: Very old cities, like Prague, struggle with how to balance religious practice with pressing needs for living space.

The Abrahamic faiths generally have a similar set of beliefs about the “end of time” in which humans, and the remains of humans, shall reconcile with the divine. For this reason, it is tradition for people in these religions to bury their dead so that the remains of the deceased may be brought back to life, or resurrected in some form at the end of time. Muslims tend to bury their dead facing their holiest city, Mecca. Christians tend to bury people facing east, so that the dead may rise to face Christ on Judgment Day. Burying millions of people in perpetuity has multiple implications for geographers, not the least of which is the amount of territory given over storing the remains of the dead, especially in large cities like New York; or very old cities like Cairo. Some cultures hold these grounds inviolable. Other traditions are more flexible, allowing for the removal of remains from gravesites so that the space may be re-used or recycled. Some burial sites may add new corpses to existing mausoleums, or crypts; particularly when a family “owns” a particular site.

Before the 20^th century, it was common practice in many parts of the United States to bury loved ones somewhere on a family’s property. Backyard cemeteries may have made sense generations ago, but are generally forbidden today for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the fate of cemeteries upon the sale of a property. Backyard cemeteries tell us a great deal about how our cultural practices have changed along with our attitudes toward the dead (and dying), as well as property. Many Americans find cemeteries “creepy”, so having a number of unknown people buried in your backyard would be even more so. It’s certainly enough to inspire movies, like Poltergeist, among others. Among people 100 years ago or more, people got sick and died among the living – not in a hospital or nursing home geographically isolated from the houses or homes. Therefore, in generations past, cemeteries and dead people were far less frightening.

Figure 6-34: Dubach, LA - Stone markers indicate a family cemetery plot, just behind the house of a 19^th century homestead. How have attitudes changed toward death and burial? Would you like this in your yard?

Americans’ attitudes toward cemeteries have evolved. The Puritans of New England paid little attention to matters of cemeteries and gravestones. Most were buried without much ceremony in a common plot, often without permanent markers. Later, New Englanders marked burial plots with morbid-looking winged death heads and skull and crossbones imagery to remind the living of their own mortality. Later, as religious practice evolved, so did the nature and variety of grave markers; as well as the function of cemeteries. For some time during the 19^th century, cemeteries were treated much like parks are treated today, a place where death and dying could be encountered in a pleasant, tranquil setting; a place for a stroll or a picnic. In a large city, like Los Angeles, where there are numerous immigrants from different parts of the world, it remains easy to witness immigrant families having a picnic or a relaxing day in the cemetery – near the gravesite of a recently deceased grandparent or relative. The behaviors of immigrants in cemeteries suggest that their native cultures remain reasonably comfortable – not creeped out – by death and burial.

Figure 6-35: Boston, MA - Colonial era grave markers in New England often feature "winged death heads", presumably a warning to the living to lead virtuous lives.

The design aesthetics of 19^th century cemeteries influenced the development of park space in the United States. Traditional monumental cemeteries are costly and difficult to maintain. Headstones marking the location of burial sites erode, crack and break. Wealthier families, especially generations ago, commonly built large monuments in an attempt to raise the stature of the deceased. Overtime elaborate monuments and mausoleum deteriorate and become hazards. The cost of simply trimming grass has led to the popularization of memorial gardens, or lawn cemeteries with flat grave markers that permit lawn tractors to mow grass quickly and efficiently. The sight of heavy machinery passing over the remains of loved ones may violate the sense of propriety for some. The other problem with lawn-style cemeteries is the uniformity of the gravestones. Many people dislike the thought of commemorating a loved one with a generic marker. More recently, the costs associated with burials have invited an increasing number of people to consider cremation, or natural burial to mitigate the numerous environmental consequences of conventional burial in a vault with headstones, etc.

Figure 6-36: Glendale, CA - Cemeteries were for a time designed to be park-like museum spaces where people could engage in activities beyond mourning.