Hi Gang -
This is my first post. I just know someone here will have an answer. I visited an old cemetery in Nova Scotia recently. While reading the inscriptions on the headstones, I came up with 2 questions.
When you are reading a headstone, is the person buried under your feet, or are they buried opposite the side of the headstone with the inscription?
If someone were to dig up an old grave (100+ years old), would there be anything left of the body? My wife thinks that at the very least there should be some teeth left (assuming they had any at the time of their burial)! I guessing that people were buried in wooden coffins back then. Also, I imagine a body buried in the desert might fare better than a body buried in Nova Scotia, so I’m asking about someone buried in Nova Scotia.
Don’t worry, I have no immediate plans to take up grave robbing, I’m just curious!
Usually they’re under your feet. I base this on having been to cemeteries with freshly dug graves, and they’re always in front of the stone. I’ve also been to many cemeteries where the stones were back-to-back, so it’s obvious that the residents are under the front of the stone.
Best answer would be, “It depends”. I’d venture to guess that there’d be bones as well as teeth, especially after only a hundred years or so.
My first thought was with yours, that the body was under my feet when reading the inscription side. However, I noticed on some graves that there was a small limestone marker with the initials of the deceased sticking out of the ground about 6 feet ***behind ***the side of the stone with the inscription on it. That’s what made me start wondering which side of the headstone the body was buried on. :dubious:
