Maine Historical Society

Headstone of Joshua Allen, 1805, carved by Bartlett Adams (1776-1828). Photo by Mason Philip Smith, 1966. MMN #12470.

Joshua Allen's Headstone

Headstone of William Pepperrell Hale, 1738, Portland, ME. Photo by Mason Philip Smith, 1966. MMN #12476.

Introduction to Material Culture in Burial Customs

Material culture refers to objects created by a person or group of people for a specific purpose. Material culture generally refers to utilitarian, everyday things, and can encompass a wide variety of objects. Headstones are created by an artisan, whether trained or untrained, for the specific purpose of giving information about a deceased person or family group. Take a look at the headstones in this slideshow: using your iconography worksheets, see what you can infer about the people who made these headstones, and the people they were made for.

The Material Culture of Headstones

The population of what we now know of as the State of Maine has changed throughout the centuries as people establish communities. Maine exists within unceded Wabanaki Homelands, which includes the Homelands of the Maliseet, Mi'kmaq, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, and Abenaki peoples. Some of the earliest settler-colonial communities were French, who established Catholic missions and communities, and English, who established Protestant missions and communities. Many of the burial grounds throughout Maine reflect these earliest European and European-influenced customs, and changed over time. As towns grew, communities were primarily established around places of worship. One thing that all communities tend to have in common is a set of rituals or objects of material culture related to mourning and burying the dead, though what those customs are vary across communities and cultures, sometimes influencing each other. 

Learning About Communities through Funerary Material Culture

Another way many communities honor their dead is through monuments. In the wake of the Civil War (1861-65) especially, local groups, primarily women, would gather community funds in order to create monuments to fallen soldiers. Monuments also honor other figures from a town, state, or country's history. How do monuments differ from headstones? How are stories told in monuments, and what do they tell us about communities?

Monuments

This lesson plan will give students an overview of how burial sites and gravestone material culture can assist historians and archaeologists in discovering information about people and migration over time. Students will learn how new scholarship can help to dispel harmful archaeological myths, look into the roles of religion and ethnicity in early Maine and New England immigrant and colonial settlements, and discover how to track changes in population and social values from the 1600s to early 1900s based on gravestone iconography and epitaphs.

-       English Language Arts: Reading for Literature – RL 1.6, RL 2.6, RL 4.6, RL 5.6, RL 1.7, RL 2.7, 
RL 4.7, RL 5.7, RL 1.8, RL 2.8, RL 4.8, RL 5.8; Reading for Literacy in History/Social Studies – 
RH 1.6-8, RH 5.6-8, RH 7.6-8; Speaking & Listening – SL 1.6, SL 2.6, SL 3.6, SL 4.6, SL 1.7, SL 2.7, 
SL 3.7, SL 4.7, SL 1.8, SL 2.8, SL 3.8, SL 4.8 

-       Social Studies, Grades 6-8: History 1 – F1, F2, D1, D2; History 2 – F1, F2, F3, D1, D2, D3 

-       Visual & Performing Arts: A2, B1 (if extension activity is chosen), B2 (if extension activity is chosen), D1,  E1

"MMN" numbers on images refer to the corresponding object number on the Maine Memory Network, Maine's statewide digital museum maintained by the Maine Historical Society. Learn more or view closeups/transcripts of images at mainememory.net, or follow the link in the Educator Resources PDF for this lesson.

Maine Historical Society Lesson Plan What Remains for MDL 2021.pdf

Maine Historical Society What Remains Student Vocabulary Handout for MDL 2021.pdf

What Remains: Learning About Maine Populations Through Burial Customs

U.S. History

Social Studies

Reading: History/Social Studies

English Language Arts

Visual Arts

The Arts

Pictured is the headstone of Ruthe Lyman, who died in 1785 and is buried in York Village, ME. Ruthe's headstone shows a cherub (winged face) motif.

Photo by Mason Philip Smith, 1965. MMN item #12394.

Pictured is the headstone of Moses Johnson, who died in 1773 and is buried in Eastern Cemetery in Portland, ME. His headstone shows a winged death's head, and two star motifs on the shoulders.

Photo by Mason Philip Smith, 1965. MMN item  #12463.

Pictured is the headstone of Mary McLellan, who died in 1764 and is buried in Eastern Cemetery in Portland, ME. Her headstone shows a winged death's head and crossed bones.

Photo by Mason Philip Smith, 1966. MMN item #12465.

Pictured here is the headstone of Mary Freeman, who died in 1785 and is buried in Eastern Cemetery in Portland, ME. Her headstone shows an urn and willow tree. On the urn is a cherub (winged face). To either side of the urn are columns.

Photo by Mason Philip Smith, 1966. MMN item #12485.

Pictured here is the headstone of church deacon Samuel Ford, who died in 1787 and is buried in Woolwich, ME. His headstone shows a cherub or other angelic figure with a trumpet, sounding the words, "Know ye the Hour."

Photo by Mason Philip Smith, 1965. MMN item #12469.

Pictured is the headstone of Tabitha Bragdon Longfellow, who died in 1777 and is buried in Eastern Cemetery in Portland, ME. Her headstone shows an elaborately-carved cherub (winged face). Tabitha and her husband Stephen Longfellow II were the paternal great-grandparents of the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Photo by Mason Philip Smith, ca. 1965. MMN item #12464.

Pictured here is the headstone of Rebeckah Lewis, who died in 1788 and is buried in Stroudwater Cemetery in Portland, ME. Her headstone was carved by Bartlett Adams, and shows a female figure. The shape above the female figure may be a shell.

Photo by Mason Philip Smith, 1965. MMN item #12466.

Pictured here is the headstone of Priscilla Slater, who died in 1806 and is buried in Eastern Cemetery in Portland, ME. Her headstone shows a rosette, and a female figure and anchor within an oval shape.

Photo by Mason Philip Smith, 1965. MMN item #12462.

Resource Kits

Object Library

Museums

What Remains: Learning About Maine Populations Through Burial Customs

The Material Culture of Headstones

Ruthe Lyman headstone, 1785, York Village, ME. MMN #12394.