I have excavated burials in brick crypts (which is to say brick boxes built
into the ground and sealed with flat stones held in place with mortar) from
the 1870s that were very well preserved.  The vaults that people are
describing here are a more efficiently manufactured version of that.

A few years back, I did a project at a veterans' cemetery, and got to watch
them construct burial areas using vaults.  They excavated away the dirt, put
down gravel for drainage, leveled it out, and laid the vaults on it, in a
solid field, cheek by jowl, no room between them.  Then they laid the lids
on.  The engineer told me that when they were done, they would simply roll
out sod over the top.  Instant lawn. To inter, they just roll back the sod,
and take off the lid.  Apparently the marker attaches to the lid.  Each
vault is deep enough for two coffins, one on top of the other; vet and
spouse.  It was enough to make you pine for the old days.

Lauren J. Cook, RPA
Senior Archaeologist
Richard Grubb & Associates, Inc.
30 North Main Street
Cranbury, NJ 08512

Ph: 609 655-0692 ext 312
Fx: 609 655-3050
email: [log in to unmask]

-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Paul
Mohler
Sent: Wednesday, July 06, 2005 3:22 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Cement Burial Case


Melissa,
You may want to check out the brief description of such cases in The History
of American Funeral Directing (Haberstein and Lamers 1996 [4th revised
edition]:183-186).  They suggest a late 19th-century beginning to the cement
burial case.  It sounds as if the use of the packing crate that Dan Allen
mentioned in a previous response was transformed over time as a "preform"
into which concrete or cement would be poured, essentially encasing the
coffin and forming a vault.  Hope this helps!

Paul J. Mohler
NCDOT Archaeology Unit

>From: Melissa Diamanti <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Cement Burial Case
>Date: Wed, 06 Jul 2005 12:25:53 -0400
>
>I am trying to research a "Cement Burial Case" company that was based in SE
>Pennsylvania c. 1920's to 1980.  But I know nothing about their product.
>I've been impressed with the range of knowledge among the readers here, so
>I thought I'd give it a try:
>Can anyone tell me what these burial cases were? Are they caskets made of
>cement? This soulds like an extra-heavy load for pall bearers.  Or is it
>some kind of covering over the casket, or a grave chamber that the casket
>is set in, instead?
>Also, what is the period of use?  When (and why) did these things come into
>fashion/popularity, and has this trend died out?
>Replies are welcome either on or off the list.
>Melissa Diamanti
>Archaeological & Historical Consultants, Inc.
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