headstone and grave-marker both exist. grave-marker has more uses and even a tag wiki description, so I assume we would make headstone a synonym of grave-marker.
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A headstone is at the head of a gravesite. Often there are footstones at the feed of a gravesite. Generally, when that is true, the headstone will have just the last name and the footstones will have first names and birth/death dates.– JeniCommented Jun 15, 2013 at 22:06
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@Jeni I've never heard of that. Interesting.– user47Commented Jun 15, 2013 at 22:37
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@Jeni, presumably you're talking about the US? I don't think I've ever seen a footstone in England and Wales, although they exist. I have seen stone borders all round the grave, or the whole grave covered by the stone. Wikipedia says that footstones in the UK are for felons/murderers but shows a picture of a row of graves that have footstones, which makes me doubt they know what they're talking about. Either that or the village in question buried an infeasible number of murderers...– user104Commented Jun 16, 2013 at 9:38
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3 Answers
Given that the only two uses of headstone are also tagged with grave-marker, the question of synonymity is moot (in both senses). Creating the rule will have no discernible impact (other than preventing future confusion).
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I think the not yet used but inevitable gravestone should come into the mix too.– PolyGeo ModCommented Jun 18, 2013 at 20:51
Rather than trying to deal with tag synonyms on an ad hoc basis, I suggest a more structured approach.
- Identify a relevant area from which questions will be drawn.
- Use a discussion such has occured here to identify "all possible" tags.
- Arrange those possibilities in a logical hierarchy of specificity.
- Nominate the appropriate tag for best use on each branch.
- Make all terms below the selection synonyms.
In the case of funerary recognition, the heierarchy might look like this:
So if Grave marker is chosen to become grave-marker, then all the terms immediately to its right become synonyms. But plaque would be permitted to refer separately to the naming of cremated remains (for example).
If that decision seems "wrong" then the fault lies in the hierarchy and it should be rearranged to describe the desired logic for the whole area of memorialising ancestors; rather than just adding or subtracting individual tags.
(Note that I am NOT proposing separate tags for all those descriptions of symbols. It just so happens that the mind-mapping program allocated a style that resembles tags.)
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I agree we need a structured approach -- I think it needs to be a top down structure. We can't answer this question until we've addressed some more fundamental ones.– user104Commented Jun 19, 2013 at 16:51
What about Monumental Inscription? How would you include that? It might not be anywhere near the grave.
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1That's different. Is there even a tag for that?– user47Commented Jun 14, 2013 at 17:04
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@JustinY No, but I'd use MI for all three... Not entirely sure what the difference between headstone and grave-marker would be?– user104Commented Jun 14, 2013 at 17:08
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1I'm actually incubating a post on our tagging approach -- a sort of overview of where we are and what sort of structure is emerging.– user104Commented Jun 14, 2013 at 17:09
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If the inscription is not near the grave it is a cenotaph. A cenotaph is a monument that is not at the grave site. (I've been spending my 'free' time on Find-A-Grave lately)– JeniCommented Jun 15, 2013 at 22:18
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@Jeni, in England and Wales, everyone would think of The Cenotaph in Whitehall if you said cenotaph. All towns and villages (except the Thankful Villages) have War Memorials e.g. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Down_Ampney_war_memorial_-geograph.org.uk-_353575.jpg. Any inscription on a gravestone or on a plaque in a church would be a Memorial Inscription.– user104Commented Jun 16, 2013 at 8:10
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@ColeValleyGirl Was your switch from Monumental Inscription in the answer to Memorial Inscription in the comment deliberate? If so, what are the implications?– FortiterCommented Jun 18, 2013 at 6:44
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@Fortiter, no significance -- just me being careless. I meant Monumental Inscription, I think this is one of those differences in terminology between UK and USA -- would be interested to know what's used in Australia.– user104Commented Jun 18, 2013 at 15:55
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I generally use 'gravestone' but that may be more South Australian than east coast. I have not previously come across Monumental Inscription but can see that for War Memorials, statues, etc it would apply - but I think the actual place of interment should have a distinct tag.– PolyGeo ModCommented Jun 18, 2013 at 21:44
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1From a research guide published by the National Library of Australia --- There are two main types of cemetery records: Monumental Inscriptions - listings of gravemarkers, memorial plaques or church monuments that contain a memorial to the dead. Burial registers - sometimes known as burial records or undertakers' records, these are a more comprehensive listing of burials for a particular cemetery– FortiterCommented Jun 19, 2013 at 5:56
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@Fortiter, that's the classification I'm familiar with.– user104Commented Jun 19, 2013 at 12:49