Coffin Hardware and Burial Identification: Case Studies from the Bethel Cemetery Relocation Project

Despite its immense potential for temporal, stylistic, and socioeconomic data, coffin hardware analyses have been inconsistently utilized in archaeological cemetery relocations. This is partially due to the dearth of primary resources for this particular type of material culture. However, the largest hurdle has been the lack of marked and robustly dated burials that provide archaeologists the context to better understand hardware usage through time. The Bethel Cemetery Relocation Project, which included over a hundred burials associated with extant grave markers, provided an opportunity for a more comprehensive analysis of coffin hardware types and stylistic trends, allowing the archaeological team to identify over a dozen unmarked internments. During this talk, Dr. Brooke Drew will discuss the different types of coffin hardware found at Bethel Cemetery, explain how she was able to identify and date them, and provide several case studies from the excavation.

Tickets:

• $10 per person
• Must be purchased in advance online
• NO tickets will be sold at the gate

Location: Gothic Chapel (enter the 34th Street Gate, 3402 Boulevard Place) 

All children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Purchase Tickets