I created the survey map found on the cemetery page for St. George's Manor a few weeks ago over a two day period. I had favorable weather, and enough ropes of varying size for a first try at mapping a cemetery. I have plenty of experience at creating site maps during my archaeological work, but I found creating this kind of map to be far more challenging. I've never been responsible for creating my own grid before, and it was disconcerting to do the work without the accuracy of a total station. As it turns out, one of the most unattainable things in this whole project is a straight line.
Image corresponds to section B6 of the site map, including features B6.1 and B6.2.
I chose St. George's Manor for my first site map for a few reasons. First, the cemetery is on relatively level ground, with a colonial section that is not too large, with headstones grouped reasonably together. Second, I chose this site because it is not visible from a busy road (or any road). Anyone who saw me laying rope across the cemetery floor would be someone walking through the cemetery, and I knew I'd be able to chat and explain what I was doing to any visitor.
On the first day, I completed a 50 by 50 foot section of the colonial section of the graveyard, which accounted for approximately 47 headstones, footstones, and fragments. Some of these were legible, others were not. All headstones in this section were oriented facing southward. I ran out of time to do both sections, so I removed my ropes for the day, leaving the flagged tacks in the ground so I would easily be able to find them when I returned.
Two days later, I returned to complete the eastern half of the site map, using the same axis that I had established a few days before. This side of the colonial section accounted for about 30 headstones, footstones, and fragments, all oriented southward, with the notable exception of 5 headstones that can be found in column 7, which were oriented eastward instead. A full list of the headstones that correspond to the map can be found on the page for Saint George's Manor Cemetery.
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