BALUSTRADE – a railing with supporting balusters (short vase shaped supporting columns). (Wilcox Park, Westerly, RI)
BENCH – a long seat with no back, designed for two or more people. (Riverbend Cemetery, Westerly, RI)
BOULDER – a rough-hewn (natural rock face) monument is called a boulder. (River Bend Cemetery, Westerly, RI)
COLONNADE – a series of columns, arranged in order, supporting an entablature (Atwood Colonnade, Stonington, CT)
COLUMN (Broken) – the broken column and the fallen column are symbols of the broken life. (River Bend Cemetery, Westerly, RI)
CRADLE – symbolizes a final resting place. (River Bend Cemetery, Westerly, RI)
CROSS – the symbol of the Christian faith is the motif for many monuments. (River Bend Cemetery, Westerly, RI)
EXEDRA – a large niche or recess, usually with a bench or seats with semicircular plan. (Swan Point Cemetery, Providence, RI)
GATE – an opening in a wall or fence for entrance or exit. (Elm Grove Cemetery, Mystic, CT)
LEDGER – a stone slab that completely covers the gravesite. (Elm Grove Cemetery, Mystic, CT)
MARKER – small stones that indicate the location of individual graves. They may have varied styles: ornate, simple, round top, slant, flush, etc. They are often located adjacent to a family monument. (Elm Grove Cemetery, Mystic, CT)
OBELISK – a thin, four-sided, tapering monument which ends in a pyramidal top. (Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, NY)
SARCOPHAGUS – In ancient Egypt, a stone coffin into which the mummy was placed after it had been properly prepared for burial. The word sarcophagus comes from a Greek word meaning “flesh eater.” The ancient Greeks called this outer coffin a sarcophagus because it was often made of limestone, which, they thought, helped dead bodies to decompose. In modern times it refers to a monument whose shape approximates a coffin. A sarcophagus may be very simple or quite elaborate. (River Bend Cemetery, Westerly, RI)
STATUE – a carved figure of a person or animal, especially one that is life-size or larger. (River Bend Cemetery, Westerly, RI)
STELE – an upright stone or slab with an inscribed or sculptured surface, used as a monument or as a commemorative tablet in the face of a building. (River Bend Cemetery, Westerly, RI)
TABLE TOMB – a raised ledger supported at each corner by small columns standing on a landing stone. (Elm Grove Cemetery, Mystic, CT)
TABLET – may mark the grave of a couple or a single individual. (River Bend Cemetery, Westerly, RI)
URN – a vase of varying size and shape, usually having a footed base or pedestal; it may be on top of the cap of the monument or freestanding. (River Bend Cemetery, Westerly, RI)
VAULT – a large tomb, usually a stone building, with places for entombment of the dead above ground. (River Bend Cemetery, Westerly, RI)
