FWIW, in Virginia, I have NEVER seen an inscription facing west. All face east per the first para in the response per liturgical thinking. That does't mean there aren't some but that I have not seen any in 40 years of finding graveyards on projects.

Lyle Browning, RPA


On Oct 21, 2014, at 3:46 PM, "Cat's Prodigy" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> This orientation is associated with the body being buried with their feet in the east and their head in the west so the deceased will rise from the grave to witness Christ's return on the day of judgement. Inscriptions facing west allow the family member or visitor to read the inscription without standing on the grave. 
> 
> It is likely the avoidance of standing on the grave fell out of favor around the early 20th century. Texas cemeteries also generally follow the same trend with inscriptions beginning to face east around 1900-1920. However, west facing inscriptions can still be found on some more recent headstones. 
> 
> As far as references:
> 
> Farber, Jessie Lie. 2003. Early American Gravestones: Introduction to the Farber Gravestone Collection. American Antiquarian Society. 
> 
> ( it has a decent bibliography)
> 
> Strangstad, Lynette. 2013. A Graveyard Preservation Primer. Alta Mira Press. 
> 
> Good Luck
> 
> Catrina Whitley
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Oct 21, 2014, at 11:08 PM, Debbie Palk <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> 
>> Dear All,
>> 
>> During site visits for my Masters research I visited the military graveyard at Fort Willshire. This graveyard is situated in the Great Fish Nature Reserve in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
>> 
>> At this graveyard every one of the gravestones faced away from the postion the body was buried. So if you stand at the foot of the grave they headstone is blank, but if you stand behind the headstone you find the inscription. These gravestones all date from the beginning of the 19th Century. In addition to this a colleague of mine at the Bloemfontein Museum, Gerda Coetzee, also came across the same thing in Afrikaner graveyards dating from the end of the 19th Century to the beginning of the 20th Century.
>> 
>> Please could you let myself and Gerda know if you have come across similar instances and what the possible meaning for this phenomena is?
>> In addition to this I would appreciate it if you could let me know if their is any literature on the subject
>> 
>> Kind Regards
>> Debbie Palk
>> UNISA MA Candidate