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Some Social Aspects of New England Colonial Mortuary Art

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2018

James Deetz
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Brown University
Edwin N. Dethlefsen
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Franklin Pierce College

Abstract

The spatial, temporal, and formal controls available in Colonial gravestones permit the investigation of the various social dimensions of their occurrences. Those aspects which can be studied include status, community intermarriage, the social implications of stylistic evolution, and, in the case of the cemeteries, relative importance of community as opposed to familial control of interment practices. Such studies provide an understanding of some of the social factors reflected by measurable data of the type encountered in archaeological research. This paper documents specific responses in the evolution of marker styles to the Great Awakening's effect at Boston.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1971

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References

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