This prototype database was designed to meet the general needs of users from a range of different backgrounds in relation to cemeteries and graveyards. The scenario is described as follows:
A consortium of international archaeological and historical societies has collaborated in funding a multidisciplinary database of international historical graveyards whose history goes back at least 100 years.
As the database will be used for research as well as town-planning by a wide variety of people, including historians, local councils, genealogists, sociologists and epidemiologists, it is anticipated that it will include not only information about the graveyards themselves, but also the buildings, individual gravestones and the records of people buried there. [Emphasis added]
Key words and phrases (highlighted) were used to determine the appropriate entities and their attributes, and to help determine the kinds of queries that might be useful for key stakeholders.
This database will serve a diverse range users, each with different needs. Prior to constructing this database, I created a list of questions that I suspected may have been of interest to a given stakeholder, and then ensured that my database could answer them. I have listed a sample of these questions in Appendix I and have provided relevant queries to demonstrate the usefulness of the database.
Entities
From the scenario described above, I have determined that the following main entities are the most appropriate for a relational database: cemeteries, burial plots, burial records, monuments, buildings, and inscriptions. Each main entity and its significant attributes will be described below; however, a full list of attributes can be found in the appendix.
Cemeteries and graveyards
Each cemetery or graveyard will exist in the database as a distinct entity, and all other entities can be traced back to their relevant cemetery. Curl (1999) defines a cemetery as:
'a burial ground, especially a large landscaped park or ground laid out expressly for the deposition or interment of the dead, not being a churchyard attached to a place of worship.'
Accordingly, a cemetery is not simply a place containing a dead body or bodies, but a defined location specifically intended to be used for burying the dead. While Curl attempts to distinguish a cemetery from a churchyard, my database takes a broader approach and includes all formal burial places (graveyards in general), including those associated with churchyards, burial mounds, and war memorials.
As noted by Rugg (2000), cemeteries also 'provide the ability of users to locate a specific grave .
In the midst of one of the busiest cities in the world, there lies a sanctuary. There lies an area where all men are equal, where poverty is non-existent, where all men are united under two things; the first being death and the second being America. Arlington National Cemetery is a tribute to all of the fallen heroes, the patriots, the soldiers, the pioneers, all who have cried American tears. I have been forever changed since visiting Arlington National Cemetery and it is a visit that every American should make. The statistics are truly mind-numbing, as more than four hundred thousand people have been buried at Arlington National Cemetery since the 1860s.
Thousands of headstones in the far distance create magnificent mazes against the horizon. The immense land has very little room to spare as it is overflowing with graves of heroic soldiers. The white marble graves are like oversized dominos stacked precisely in the thick wind ruffled grass. It is almost inconceivable to imagine each tomb is the physical eternal home to a once courageous and patriotic warrior of our homeland. As the fireball in the heavens slowly descends, it creates a glorious silhouette of the infinite number of tombstones.
For years the burial ground was a forgotten part of American history until it was rediscovered in 1991. The site was then designated as historical landmark and later a national
The lexis used in epitaphs varies in different religions. Phrases or whole sentences are quoted in gravestones. It is seen in a Muslim gravestone (figure 1.95) carved on “inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un (إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعونَ). This is a verse from the Qur’an which translates to ‘Surely we belong to Allah and to Him we shall return’ in English. This extract from the Holy Book is in prayer form, an idiom, and conventions for prayers. Also, on Jewish gravestones the phrase “Hear, O Israel the Lord our God, the Lord is One” is carved on many which is one of the greatest commandments from the Deuteronomy 6:4. Jewish gravestones with Hebrew engravings have an increased value to genealogists, in that they not just show the date of the deceased’ passing and the time, the age or date of conception, however they also incorporate the name of the perished's father. This allows us to go back one more generation.
With a strong 150 year legacy, Crown Hill Cemetery is one of the historical sites in Indiana that reflects upon the heritage of its citizens. This cemetery is the nations third largest non-government cemetery. During the Civil War back in 1863 was the when Crown Hill cemetery was founded. It is a very unique site for its historical context and size. It serves many families in Indiana with funeral homes services and historical backgrounds. If visited you will begin to notice and understand how the cemetery is a great place of reflection and education for thousands of its visitors who attend the cemetery every year. The few words that could describe the atmosphere of Crown Hill would be beautiful, articulate, reverence and peace. No other cite in Indianapolis offers such high level of serenity and great historical architect such as Crown Hill Cemetery.
One interesting United States military cemetery is called Sicily-Rome. In Sicily Rome, there are eight thousand service men and women and three thousand ninety five names inside the
A cemetery, or burial ground, often conveys a gloomy connotation. In this novel, the underlying theme that sins have a ruinous effect is conveyed by this setting. This idea can first be seen when Chillingworth is gathering weeds out of the cemetery to make medicine. For instance, “I found them growing on a grave which bore no tombstone...it may be some hideous secret that was buried with him.” (Hawthorne 127) Chillingworth collects a repulsive looking weed from the headstone of an unknown man to heal Dimmesdale’s illness. However, the weed is described as a “dark, flabby leaf,” which suggests the man died with a
In Duncannon Pa at the top of Cemetery Road is the Duncannon Presbyterian Cemetery. The road narrows and bends in between large sections of green lawn filled with gravestones. Follow the most outside road around the cemetery towards the older side where the stones begin to fade, slow down for the sharp bend and at the far corner you'll find where the first log church that was built in Duncannon stood. The one that is standing there now is not that church, but a replica, built to look exactly like the original.
Funeral services will be held this week for Noelle Moore, who died on April 23, 2099, of natural causes in her home in El Paso, Texas. Noelle’s last words were “That was one h*ll of a ride.” Services will be held at the Zion Lutheran Church in El Paso. There will be a visitation on April 26 from 2-8 p.m. The funeral will then be held on April 27, 2099 at 10:00 a.m. Burial will be at Evergreen Cemetery in El Paso.
At the Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C. lie the remains of four hundred thousand soldiers, but only four are given the title the unknown soldier. The tomb of the unknown soldier, also known as the Tomb of the Unknowns, is a monument that opened on November eleventh nineteen twenty-one. The tomb contains the remains of four unidentified soldiers from World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The tomb is a reminder of America 's pastime. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a vital part of American history because it represents all the men and women who have selflessly given their lives for American freedom.
One of the most visited graves at Arlington is that of President John F. Kennedy. President Kennedy traveled the world to promote friendship between the United States and other nations. Americans were shocked when he was shot and killed in Dallas, TX in 1963. His grave is marked with an eternal flame that will burn forever, reminding people of his accomplishments (Reef 44-46).
[13] Each grave that the Registration Units dug was marked with a cross or other religious symbol if it was known what faith the deceased believed in.[14] The identity, rank, and date of death if known was also recorded on this marker.[15] With the increasing amounts of dead the IWGC started to create their own cemeteries made specifically for the military.[16] These were located behind the frontlines but still close enough that they still relatively easy to get to. More and more cemeteries started to pop up around the locations of major battles such as Somme and Verdun.
Chamberlain, Andrew, and Pearson Michael Parker. Earthly Remains: The History and Science of Preserved Human Bodies. New York: Oxford UP, 2001. Print.
The burial grounds make the dead come to life, but it has greater powers as
He had no real hope of finding the cemetery today, but he could at least scout the area for the most favorable place to start a search. Still, he didn't want to chance missing something. With a stick he fashioned into a staff, he probed the ground for any remnants of a burial site. Vines growing thick enough to hide a fence, piles of rocks that resembled grave markers, or even rocks that looked like broken headstones. Nate investigated them all.