For a discussion of the use of a ditch to mark the boundary of an 
early-Christian churchyard cemetery in Finland, see:

https://books.google.com/books?id=xRyPGj5beQwC&pg=PA155&dq=cemetery+boundary+ditch&hl=en&sa=X&ei=acqNVY7LC8Lr-QGG9Z3gBw&ved=0CCYQ6AEwADgo#v=onepage&q=cemetery%20boundary%20ditch&f=false




On 6/26/2015 4:32 PM, Bob Skiles wrote:
> 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]
>>>
>>
>