Burial and death in colonial North America : exploring interment practices and landscapes in 17th-century British settlements / by Robyn S. Lacy (Golder Associates Ltd, Canada).

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lacy, Robyn S., author.

Series:

Emerald points.

Emerald points

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Funeral rites and ceremonies--United States--History--Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775.

Funeral rites and ceremonies.

United States--History--Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (177 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Bingley, United Kingdom : Emerald Publishing Limited, [2020]

Summary:

While late 17th- and 18thcentury burial grounds of colonial North America are frequently the subject of research, widescale studies of 17thcentury burial landscapes are often the less documented aspect of these sites. This book aims to fill some of that gap by exploring the relationships and organization of early British colonial burial grounds within the context of their own settlements and the wider northeast coast. Early settlers immigrated to North America for many reasons, and there, away from the Church of England, they could freely explore their relationship with their faith, community and death, represented today through the organization of their burial landscapes and burial practices. By studying the relationship between burial grounds and their associated settlements, we gain a more holistic understanding of how settlers related to, interpreted, and ultimately handled the reality of human mortality. This book examines the organization of 40 burial grounds founded by British settlers on the northeast coast of North America in the 17th century, with the intention of identifying trends in burial ground organization during this period of early colonization. The results can be applied to archaeological or historical research on colonial settlements that have not yet located their earliest burial ground. The book expands the current knowledge base of settler relationships with mortality through the physical placement of burials and interaction with burial landscapes within their new settlements.

Contents:

1. Introduction

Research Area and Background

Literary Review

Burial Landscapes

Burial Grounds

Grave Markers

`Britishness' in Colonial Settlements

Research Methods and Questions

Terminology

Chapter Summaries

Conclusion

2. Effects of the Protestant Reformation on British Burial Traditions and British North America in the Early Seventeenth Century

Pressures of Change

Burial Rites in Britain Preceding the Protestant Reformation

Effects of the Protestant Reformation on British Burial Tradition

British North America in the Early Seventeenth Century

3. Seventeenth-century Burial Practices and Landscapes on the East Coast

Below the Surface

Gravestones in the Seventeenth-century Atlantic World

Seventeenth-century Gravestone Iconography

Protective Marks in a Mortuary Context

Conclusions

4. Statistical Analysis of Seventeenth-Century Burial Landscapes in British North America

Settlement Organization in the Seventeenth Century

Statistical Analysis of Burial Ground Organization

Results of the Analysis

5. Case Study: The Colony of Avalon at Ferryland, Newfoundland

The British and Irish in Seventeenth Century Newfoundland

Evidence of Deaths at Ferryland

The Search for the Seventeenth Century Burials at Ferryland

Additional Case Study: Guilford, Connecticut

Guilford, Connecticut

6. Discussion and Conclusions

Discussion

Further Questions and Directions

Conclusions.

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references.

Print version record.

ISBN:

9781789730456

1789730457

9781789730432

1789730430