2,000 Bodies Discovered in Berlin Medieval Cemetery

Archaelogists in Berlin have uncovered 2,000 skeletons in a huge medieval cemetery near the city center since they started examining the site in March 2007.

The site was found during construction work in Petriplatz square. A large number of the skeletons are of children, a sign of their high mortality rate in the Middle Ages. The bodies are being examined to determine the sex, age at death and possible disease, and they will be reburied at a different location, local newspapers reported. "These excavations show us the medieval roots of Berlin," archaeologist Matthias Wemhoff told the tabloid Bild newspaper. The graveyard dates back to around 1230, when the Petrikirche church was built. The church, badly damaged in World War II, was torn down in 1964. Archaelogists have found medieval wells, cellars and a wealth of artifacts such as combs, pots, tools, coins and bottles. Regula Löscher, head of public construction in the Berlin city government, said part of the site will be preserved and made accessible to the public, and that plans to build new shops and offices in the area will be revised accordingly.

'Graveyard groomer' helps restore stones at cemetery

Bedford, Ohio -- John Walters loves the feeling he gets from fixing up aging gravestones. "It's like you're saving history and artwork from more than 100 years ago," he said. "It seems like you are righting a wrong. "So many times, you look at the surnames on the graves and then look at the nearby roads - roads that were named after these people, They are the people who carved out this area." Walters, a gravestone restorer, was summoned to work at Bedford Cemetery during the last full week in June. "It can be slow, pains-taking work," Walters said.

Walters, who calls himself the "Graveyard groomer," came at the request of Janet Caldwell, director of the Bedford Historical Society. She encountered Walters, who was teaching at a workshop last year, and realized how he could upgrade the cemetery on Broadway Avenue."He is a national expert," she said.

Walters got interested in fixing gravestones while working for the cemetery department in Fayette County in Indiana. "I fell in love with graveyards," he said. "I discovered a passion. I convinced them that they needed to do more with graveyards than mow the grass." Walters, 52, started his own business a dozen years ago. Three years ago, he took on Kelly Luke, 36, as an assistant. They are old friends from Connorsville, Ind. They travel throughout Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois during the non-winter months. When it rains, they erect a tent-like shelter and keep working.

"Each time, I am working on someone's family stone," Luke said. "It's a great feeling to fix them up. These were the pioneers of the area."

Evergreen Cemetery: Underrated Jewel in the Heart of Oakland, Ca.

When cemetery enthusiasts think of Oakland Cemeteries, rarely-if ever- does Evergreen come to mind. Explorers bustle to see Millionaire row at Mountain View Cemetery and the beauty of its neighboring St. Mary’s (literally across the street from one another). While not as old, Evergreen certainly has its fair share of prominent internments. Evergreen Cemetery first opened in 1903, likely because so many other Oakland resting places were lacking space as well as to serve as a closer alternative for families who had been living in this area for generations. The majority of pre 1910 burials are unmarked. There is also a two level mausoleum and a lovely chapel. Evergreen now holds upward 1,700 internments.

Aside from its many local neighborhood families, Evergreen holds important history makers. There is Jesse Fuller, who taught himself to play a homemade instrument at the age of 5, ran away to California at the age of 10 and went on tobe known as one of the great blues musicians. Other musicians here include Johnny Fuller and Earl “Fatha” Hines (who is credited with helping to put jazz on the musical map and well known for his work with Louis Armstrong). US Congressman and House of rep.(New York's 3rd District) Otto Godfrey Foelker and Jacob E. Swap, Civil War Congressional Medal of Honor recipient are both at Evergreen. Interestingly, Evergreen also is home to Clarence Leo Best, founder of the Caterpillar Tractor Company as well as inventor of the grain harvester, Daniel Best. Without a doubt, the most famous of burials would be that of child actor Allen Clayton Hoskins, better known as Farina in the Our Gang short films from 1922 to 1931. Evergreen is most noted as the final resting place to over 400 unknown and unclaimed victims of the 1978 Jonestown massacre.

While I am typically drawn to older cemeteries, I personally have a soft spot for this cemetery because there are incredibly valuable lessons to be had in regards to Allen Clayton Hoskins and the Jonestown Memorial. Hoskins was not the first black actor but he certainly was the highest paid making $250 a week, more than any other child star at that time, which certainly cleared the path for others. More importantly, his controversial typecasting, though historically a shameful negative, has lead into valuable learned lessons, thus making Hoskins an important figure in America’s growth and education. The Jonestown tragedy speaks for itself. To learn from such, be it stereotyping or tragedies of the past allows for it never to happen again.

Evergreen Cemetery is well taken care of, more so than most which are much more well known. Though it is located in dubious area of the city (where crime is concerned), the respect factor for Evergreen is high and theft and vandalism are non existant.

Abandoned Cemetery: Butcher Hill in Yreka, Ca.

Butcher Hill Cemetery (aka Foothill Cemetery)is located just outside of Yreka, California at the foot of Butcher Hill in the northeast section near the city of Yreka. There is no sign but the cemetery is "sort of" enclosed by a very old chain link type fence.

This is an open field cemetery.The earliest marker found at Butcher Hill is Harvey Newton March 1855; the last marked is 1940. Many of these graves are pauper, therefore are not marked. This is pioneer land, and I assume a lot of the burials here are early miners and settlers.

If anyone has info I can add about the history or interns, please let me know!

Head(stone) Scratcher of the Month: Headstone Humor

Ok these are not real headstones but... they are funny and I want them.

Stonehenge Was Cemetery First and Foremost, Study Says

James Owen in London for National Geographic News

The site appears to have been intended as a cemetery from the very start, around 5,000 years ago—centuries before the giant sandstone blocks were erected—the new study says. New analysis of ancient human remains show that people were buried at the southern England site from about 3000 B.C. until after the first large stones were raised around 2500 B.C.

"This is really exciting, because it shows that Stonehenge, from its beginning to its zenith, is being used as a place to physically put the remains of the dead," said Mike Parker Pearson of England's University of Sheffield. "It's something that we just didn't appreciate until now."

The new finding supports the theory that Stonehenge represented the "domain of the dead" to ancestor-worshiping ancient Britons, Parker Pearson said. Previously it was believed that Stonehenge was a place of burial only between about 2700 and 2600 B.C., the new report says. But new radiocarbon dates spanning 500 years were obtained for three cremated humans unearthed in 1950s at Stonehenge and kept at the nearby Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum. The earliest cremation, a pile of burned bones and teeth, came from one of 56 pits called the Aubrey Holes Continue here

Chapel Hill cemetery home to unknown graves-PLEASE Donate!

Barbee-Hargrave Cemetery in Chapel Hill North Carolina, is a slave cemetery that was active from about 1790 until 1915. Little is known about the cemetery, but the Chapel Hill Cemeteries Advisory Board and the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill are working to bring attention to Barbee-Hargrave.

A small plaque identifies the cemetery, but there are no headstones to mark its graves. There is only one known interrment-George Hargrave. Hargrave was a black slave who once belonged to Margaret J. Hargrave, according to the Twelfth Census of the United States, conducted in 1900. At the time of the census, George Hargrave was 71 years old. Although it is known that Hargrave is buried in the cemetery, it is unknown where his body – or any other body – lies within the cemetery’s grounds. One goal of the Preservation Society and the Cemeteries Advisory Board is to figure out where these bodies are buried using ground penetrating radar (GPR).

GPR for Barbee-Hargrave will cost approximately $500 and should not take long to perform, Dollar said.

“If someone wanted to walk in and donate the money to have this done for the Barbee-Hargrave, it could be done very quickly,” Moore said. “And the information would be known publicly.” Moore and Dollar said they are hopeful that once the GPR project is finished, they will be able to find out more about the history of Barbee-Hargrave.
“There may be a direct family connection that may be unknown until this point,” Moore said.These connections could mean a lot to local African American community, Moore and Dollar said.“I feel like the families want to know where their loved ones are buried,” said Jim Merritt, the Chapel Hill Town Council Member who sits on the Cemeteries Advisory Board. Discoveries made at Barbee-Hargrave could provide important links between Chapel Hill, its African American population and their intertwined past, Moore said. “Projects like this are a good way to highlight that history,” Dollar said. “You cannot destroy it, but you can lose it. Barbee-Hargrave cemetery was lost.”

The Preservation Society and Cemeteries Advisory Board are looking to complete the GPR project by the end of 2009 or the beginning of 2010.

To donate to this cause or request general information about the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill, e-mail: chpreservation@mindspring.com or visit their website.