A graveyard is a place where people are buried. It is usually associated with a church. People from different religions can be buried in a cemetery.
Until recently, the term “graveyard” was more common than the word “cemetery”. This may be because churches ran out of space and non-church-associated cemeteries were created to solve this issue.
Definition
A graveyard is an area of land where dead people are buried. It is usually located next to a church or within a community. It is also maintained as a solemn and respectful place for visitation, remembrance, and mourning.
Historically, graveyards were run by churches, and those who were buried in them were either members of that church or had expressed a desire to be interred there upon death. As the population of Europe began to grow, however, these church-run graveyards became overcrowded.
This is when completely new places for burial, independent of churches, began to appear—and they were called cemeteries. The word is derived from the Latin word coemeterium, which itself comes from Greek koimeterion. The two words are quite similar, though the etymology of both is somewhat obscure.
History
In the past, people were buried on the land adjacent to their churches. The resulting cemetery was known as a churchyard. Today, the word is more commonly used to describe a large burial ground that is not associated with a specific church.
The wealthy could afford a headstone or tombstone, which would be engraved with their names and dates of birth and death. In the medieval period, some families would even compete to see whose tombstone had the most ornate carvings.
Graveyards have also been the sites of superstitions and legends — supposedly, witches gathered skulls from there to use in their sinister rituals. It’s why sailors called the late shift “graveyard watch.” In modern times, there are many alternatives to traditional graveyards. Some of them involve sky burial.
Maintenance
Keeping the grave site clean is important to prevent lichens, mildew and other plant growth. It is also a good idea to keep plants and trees at least 18 inches away from markers to avoid damage or overgrowth.
Other maintenance may include weeding the area around the marker and cleaning the headstone. It is recommended that this work be done at least twice a year.
Recruiting volunteers to help with the maintenance can be challenging. Ideally, volunteers should be screened to ensure that they meet strength and mobility standards for working near open graves.
Business Insurance is a must for any cemetery business. This type of insurance can protect the owners from lawsuits and financial loss due to accidents or property damage. It also helps to keep business operations running smoothly and efficiently.
Rules and Regulations
A graveyard is different from a regular piece of land because it’s specifically designed to contain burials. This means that there are likely to be a lot of rules that dictate what can and cannot happen there.
For example, a church-run graveyard may require that headstones are conservative in nature and have very specific, Christian inscriptions. Cemeteries, on the other hand, are more forgiving.
Another area of contention is re-using older grave sites. Although the authorities in a cemetery may say that the descendants of those already interred won’t object to re-use, many families will view it as a desecration.
It’s important to read a contract or the By Laws of a cemetery association before you buy a lot or vault. That way you can know what your rights are and what are considered the standards of the cemetery.
Final Resting Place
A graveyard is where you are buried after you die. It is a special area that is used specifically for this purpose and has many rules and regulations about what can happen there.
From about the 7th Century onwards, churchyards had a monopoly over burials. This led to them running out of space, which gave rise to the more modern cemetery.
The main difference between a graveyard and a cemetery is that a cemetery is not tied to a specific church. It is often much larger than a graveyard, and it can be more spaciously divided into individual family plots. It is also not as old. The Spacecraft Cemetery is the final resting place for 145 of Russia’s Progress autonomous resupply ships, as well as a number of Russian Salyut and Mir space stations.