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Generally gravestones are highly polished with detailed engraving of text and symbols. Some memorials are more elaborate and may involve the sculpture of symbols associated with death, such as angels, hands joined in prayer, and vases of flowers. Some specially-made stones feature artistic lettering by letter cutters.
Headstone engravers faced their own "year 2000 problem" when still-living people, as many as 500,000 in the United States alone, pre-purchased headstones with pre-carved death years beginning with 19–. [8] Bas-relief carvings of a religious nature or of a profile of the deceased can be seen on some headstones, especially up to the 19th century.
Each engraved letter cost about 3 gold marks, while an average man earned only about 10 gold marks a year. However, in a good season a whaling ship's captain could bring home around 900 marks. [10] The graves of poor people usually were marked by only a red sandstone slab with dates of birth and death or with a simple wooden cross. [3]
Local Civil War veteran John Kapsa died on Saturday, Nov. 29, 1919. He lay in an unmarked grave in Oakland Cemetery for 105 years until a smattering of volunteers recently decided to make a change.
Most others were buried in graveyards again divided by social status. Mourners who could afford the work of a stonemason had a headstone engraved with a name, dates of birth and death and sometimes other biographical data, and set up over the place of burial. Usually, the more writing and symbols carved on the headstone, the more expensive it was.
It is still possible for ornate and unusual tombstones to be put into Hope Cemetery. These large memorials can range in cost from US$20,000–30,000+. Simple headstones cost about $2,000. [11] Hope is the largest [12] of three cemeteries managed by the city of Barre. [13]