Many of the images carved into headstones, embroidered, drawn, or painted onto cloth and fired into dishware, had particular meaning to the citizens of the late 18th and 19th centuries in New England. Try matching the more common symbols to their meanings. You will check your accuracy through a search on this website and through class discussion.
| 1. Willow tree | _____ Eden, return to Heaven |
| 2. Cherub | _____ Strength over evil |
| 3. Urn | _____ Life cut off in its prime |
| 4. Stream | _____ Citizen of Heaven |
| 5. Garden | _____ Cleansing grace |
| 6. Crossbones and skull | _____ Romantic image of death |
| 7. Oak tree | _____ Everlasting life |
| 8. Angels | _____ Death as the end of life |
| 9. Fallen oak tree | _____ Vessel for holding vital organs |
| 10. Ferns | _____ Humility |
| 11. Evergreen tree | _____ Resurrection |
| Try some of these, seen at the Old Albany Burying Ground: | |
| 12. Pointing hand | _____ Voice of the spirit |
| 13. Hour glass | _____ Mortality |
| 14. Skull with mouth | _____ Heavenly reward |
| 15. Shroud | _____ Inevitability of time's passage |
| 16. Crown | _____ Divine harvest |
| 17. Wheat in sheaves | _____ Next level, heaven |
| 18. Columns | _____ Gates of heaven |