Effect of climate change
• Acid rain
• Sea level rise
• Neglect
Cemetery maintenance
• Weed Control
Multiple cultures within the same area
• European
• Indigenous
• Free blacks
• Enslaved blacks
Drowning victims or “floaters”
• Watermen
• Ships traveling through the area
• Wars
Multiple generations who lived on the same property
Direction the tombstones are facing
Lack of tombstones
• Wooden markers deteriorated
• No one remaining to order a tombstone
• Cost
Signage in the cemetery
Permission to visit by property owner
Using other sources to expand knowledge of who is buried there
The artisans who created the tombstones
Artwork and symbols found on tombstones
Bodies and tombstones brought to cemeteries by different forms of transportation
Different styles of tombstones
Use of common names versus formal names on tombstones
Multiple versions of spellings of the same name
Epitaphs
• Hymns
• Popular poems of the time
Causes of death
• Lack of medicines
• Lack of medical personnel
• Epidemics
Probable related family members who might be there
Military affiliations
How to do audio interpretations
Burial practices
• Funeral homes
• Deceased laid out at home
• Mourning rituals