Linda,

A few more examples from England ...

... cemetery at Winchester; of the eight skeletons recovered, all of 
which were located close to the //cemetery boundary ditch//, only two 
were adults, which suggests that the area was being reserved for 
children (K.E. Qualmann, pers. comm.).

[J. M. Lilley, 1994:369, The Jewish burial ground at Jewbury, York 
Archaeological Trust, Council for British Archaeology]

~~~

... enclosure ditch 152 Enclosures J/K/L ditch gully in subrectangular 
enclosure F gully in subrect enc B (?Strat Zone A deposit) late Roman 
/cemetery boundary ditch/pit Total of 45 coins chord is short, presaging 
the solid cast hooks of Cam.

[East Anglian Archaeology 83:73]

~~~

The /Cemetery Boundary Ditch/In the later medieval period the northern 
limit of the monastic cemetery was defined by a ditch (1000/1008/ 
1345/1424). This is discussed in detail in Chapter 5. Period 2D: The 
Monastic Burial Ground (15th century ...

[Excavations at St. James Priory, Bristol, by Reg Jackson, 2006:35]






On 6/26/2015 4:10 PM, Bob Skiles wrote:
> Linda,
>
> The use of ditches as a cemetery boundary is an extremely venerable 
> tradition in western culture, dating back to at least Roman times in 
> Britain and western Europe ... a few examples follow ...
>
> Oxoniensia 52, Oxford Architectural and Historical Society, in the 
> Roman Cemetery excavated at Dorchester, in reference to cemetery 
> boundary ditches around features:
>
> p. 45 The junction between this enclosure and the /cemetery boundary 
> ditch/ was sectioned. Both ditch fillings were identical, but where 
> F15 cut F25 the edge was sharply defined and not eroded by weathering. 
> This appeared to confirm that this small burial enclosure was created 
> after the main cemetery ditch had filled with silt …
>
> ~~~
>
> “…the Queenford cemetery was largely destroyed by modern activity 
> before archaeologists could examine it. Despite such losses, as many 
> as 164 burials were excavated and analyzed…The dead were interred at a 
> shallow depth of only two to three feet. Originally all the Queenford 
> graves were enclosed by a /cemetery boundary ditch/, but later, graves 
> were placed outside /the boundary/as well.”
>
> [Daily life in Authurian Britain by Deborah J. Shepherd, Greenwood 
> Press, 2013:95]
>
> ~~~
>
> “This is once again the truth, I went through it myself. I was coming 
> home here in the ditch which surrounds the cemetery, and it was dark. 
> There was a path in the cemetery – across it – which is where I used 
> to go. I heard that in /the cemetery ditch/there was some child 
> weeping. I go over there. I take a look ... as I go to the ditch ... I 
> pay attention . . . well, someone is crying here! One can hear that 
> underneath the ground someone is crying! I look around ...”
>
> [Studies on Mythology and Uralic Shamanism, Mihaly Hoppal, 2000 
> <https://books.google.com/books?id=Fb0oAAAAYAAJ&q=%22cemetery+ditch%22&dq=%22cemetery+ditch%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=UbiNVZGQDYO1-QGjjZKYBQ&ved=0CB0Q6AEwADgU>:47]
>
>
>
>
> On 6/26/2015 1:35 PM, Linda Derry wrote:
>> Histarchers,
>>
>> I need your help. There is a cemetery in our archaeological park that was
>> established by the Alabama legislature in 1851 but we can't find any legal
>> records that describe the boundaries.  However there are historical records
>> (newspaper reports mostly) that say that the cemetery was "surrounded by a
>> ditch" and a few years after it was created, an osage orange hedge was
>> planted just inside the ditch.
>>
>> Today, the ditch is still very apparent, and there are a few  aged  osage
>> orange trees too.
>>
>> Our attorney has told us he does't think that he can use the ditch as
>> evidence of the boundary, because of the word "surrounds" since, as he
>> says, "its like saying that  the Indians surrounded the fort  and that
>> doesn't imply  they were establishing a boundary."  A fence he would
>> accept, and he may consider the osage orange, but he doesn't seem to think
>> we can protect the ditch from our neighbor's bulldozers.
>>
>> So, I am turning to you for help.  Are there other examples of graveyards
>> that were enclosed by ditches, or documented  evidence that ditches were
>> used as boundary markers.  I'm trying to argue that  historically ditches
>> were just as real as fences in establishing boundaries.
>>
>> Linda Derry
>> Site Director, Old Cahawba Archaeological Park
>> Alabama Historical Commission
>> 719 Tremont Street, Selma, AL 36701
>> office:  334/875-2529
>> park:  334/ 872-8058
>> [log in to unmask]
>>
>