Pre-industrial headstones across the continental North Sea plain

Abstract

This paper examines the spatial and temporal distribution of grave headstones in the relatively homogeneous North Sea plain and adjacent regions during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, as well as the various lithological, cultural, religious and transportation factors influencing this distribution. Findings from close inspection of cemeteries across the study area were complemented with data from existing surveys. The larger part of the production of headstones was for local consumption. High densities of cruciform (Catholic) headstones in the Boulonnais and in most of the Ardennes–Rhenish massif are illustrated with the cases of the Berwinne and Vesdre headstone production workshops. Beyond concentrations along the Meuse and Rhine rivers, there is a large area stretching from northern France to north-west Germany in which no headstones can be found (with the notable exception of a few Jewish cemeteries). Beyond this area devoid of headstones, the Marsh Islands and adjacent continental areas again have high densities (more than 1 headstone per km 2), occurring in two well-differentiated clusters. One cluster contains simple poles in Belgian Palaeozoic limestone in North-Holland and the West-Frisian islands, and the other cluster, on the German and Danish Marsh Islands, holds richly decorated tablets made in sandstone from the Weserbergland. The headstones on the Marsh Islands, a unifying cultural element in this UNESCO world heritage area, bear witness to the significance of a lucrative whaling activity and the intense trade that developed despite political, religious and linguistic differences across the region.