06-20-2010, 06:25 PM
Interesting question! I don't think gravestones are an Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Scythian, Median, or Persian custom.
Epictetus gave one example of a non-Greco-Roman gravestone. I think there were some stellae at the grave circle in Mycenae, and maybe at Troy. One Norse burial custom was to outline a grave with small standing stones in the shape of a boat. And I think they used larger stones as grave markers too ... although late enough that there could be Roman influence.
In our culture, grave markers are sometimes wooden. They wouldn't leave a trace in the archaelogical record, but serve the same function as stone markers.
Epictetus gave one example of a non-Greco-Roman gravestone. I think there were some stellae at the grave circle in Mycenae, and maybe at Troy. One Norse burial custom was to outline a grave with small standing stones in the shape of a boat. And I think they used larger stones as grave markers too ... although late enough that there could be Roman influence.
In our culture, grave markers are sometimes wooden. They wouldn't leave a trace in the archaelogical record, but serve the same function as stone markers.
Nullis in verba
I have not checked this forum frequently since 2013, but I hope that these old posts have some value. I now have a blog on books, swords, and the curious things humans do with them.
I have not checked this forum frequently since 2013, but I hope that these old posts have some value. I now have a blog on books, swords, and the curious things humans do with them.
