A Grave Understanding: Interpreting Signs and Symbols of Historic Grave Markers

This is a 120-minute foundational through experienced level lecture, located in The Pickman Room (second floor)

What’s the difference between a cemetery and a graveyard? Why aren’t there any gravestones for witches in Salem? What do all of those symbols on the gravestones in Salem really mean? Join Dr. Randall Ulyate, mythology professor and archaeologist, for an exploration of the signs and symbols of historic grave markers with a special focus on the iconography found in Salem’s cemeteries. Learn about historic Christian burial traditions and the symbolism of the death heads, hourglasses, scythes, and more.

This lecture will cover traditional Christian burial rituals and practices in the US and Europe, the beliefs that they are founded on, and why witches have historically been excluded from these practices. We will look at examples of how the bodies of accused and condemned witches are marked, or unmarked, and what that tells us…