Cemetery Merchandise

Epitaph

an inscription placed on a monument to commemorate the deeds or qualities of the deceased.

Cenotaph

a monument erected to the memory of the dead, with the human remains not present.

Flush marker

a headstone which is set parallel with the surrounding terrain.

Bevel top marker

a small headstone, set above ground, with a slanting top.

Slant marker

a cemetery marker that has a face that has an angle greater than 45 degrees but less than 90 degrees in relationship to the terrain.

Vertical Tablet

a type of cemetery monument in which the die is taller than it is wide.

Horizontal tablet

a type of cemetery monument in which the die is wider than it is tall.

Base

the lower or supporting part of a monument. In some monuments, there may be a first, second, and third base.

Tablet (die)

main part of a monument, the upright portion above the base where the inscription is located.

Mausoleum

an above ground structure or building containing crypts or vaults for entombment of caskets; may also include niches for cremated remains.

Crypt

a chamber in a mausoleum, of sufficient size, generally used to contain the casketed remains of a deceased person.

Niche

a recess or space in a columbarium used for the permanent placing of cremated remains.

Couch crypt

a crypt in which the casket lies parallel to the crypt front.

Columbarium

a structure, room, or space in a mausoleum or other building containing niches or recesses used to hold cremated remains.

Ossuary

receptacle for communal placement of cremated and/or skeletal remains.

Memorial Park

a cemetery or section of a cemetery with only flush to the ground type markers.

Section

a subdivision of a cemetery containing several blocks.

Block

a subdivision of a cemetery containing several lots.

Lot

a subdivision of a cemetery which consists of several graves or interment spaces.

Grave

an excavation in the earth as a place for interment.

Lawncrypt

grave space where two or more persons may be buried in grave liners, which have been stacked one on top of the other with the first person who dies being buried in the deepest grave liner.

Scattering garden

a section in a cemetery set aside for the scattering of cremated human remains.

Monument

a structure, usually of stone or metal, erected to commemorate the life, deeds, or career of a deceased person; derived from the Latin word meaning “to remind.”

Memorial

a physical object that is designed for the purpose of remembering an individual, group, or event.

Marker

an object, usually of one piece, used to identify individual graves.