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Types of Monuments | Click link to see a picture of the monument type. |
Balustrade -- a railing with supporting balusters (short vase shaped supporting columns). Bench -- a long seat with no back, designed for two or more people. Boulder -- a rough-hewn monument is called a boulder. Colonnade -- A series of columns, arranged in order, supporting an entablature (e.g., Atwood Columnade, Stonington, CT) Column -- The broken column and the fallen column are symbols of the broken life. Cradle -- symbolizes a final resting placeCross-- the symbol of the Christian faith is the motif for many monuments. Exedra -- a large niche or recess, usually with a bench or seats with semicircular plan. Gate -- an opening in a wall or fence for entrance or exit. Ledger -- A ledger is a granite slab that completely covers the gravesite. Marker -- small stones that indicate the location of individual graves. They may have varied styles: ornate, simple, round top, slant, flush, etc. They are often located adjacent to a family monument. Obelisk -- an obelisk is a thin, four-sided, tapering monument which ends in a pyramidal top Sarcophagus -- In ancient Egypt , a sarcophagus was a stone coffin into which the mummy was placed after it had been properly prepared for burial. The word sarcophagus comes from a Greek word meaning “flesh eater.” The ancient Greeks called this outer coffin a sarcophagus because it was often made of limestone, which, they thought, helped dead bodies to decompose. In modern times it refers to a monument whose shape approximates a coffin. A sarcophagus may be very simple or quite elaborate. Statue Stele-- an upright stone or slab with an inscribed or sculptured surface, used as a monument or as a commemorative tablet in the face of a building Table Tomb -- a raised ledger supported at each corner by small columns standing on a landing stone. Tablet -- A tablet may mark the grave of a couple or a single individual. Urn-- a vase of varying size and shape, usually having a footed base or pedestal; it may be on top of the cap of the monument or freestanding. Vault -- A vault is large tomb, usually a stone building, with places for entombment of the dead above ground.
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