Ross Bay Field Work

The best thing about studying anthropology is that most topics you cover are bound to be interesting and unique. Archaeology of Death is no exception. This month we've been working on a group project that I can confidently say is one of the weirdest projects I've ever done. "Monument Analysis" sounded straight forward and relatively boring, until I read the description. What it actually entailed was going to a cemetery and collecting data on monuments of choice. I had never been to Ross Bay cemetery, but heard it was the final resting place of a few famous Canadians, such as Emily Carr and Sir James Douglas. I love Emily Carr, and the thought of visiting her grave had occurred to me in the past, but going to a cemetery leisurely never sounded like a great pastime. When I finally did get there, I was pleasantly surprised with my surroundings. Fortunately, we went on a sunny (although freezing) day. I walked down the pathways surrounded by trees towards the ocean. It was nothing like the cemetery I had visited back home when I was younger, but that probably had more to do with the fact that I had no family members buried in Ross Bay. As the morning went on, we noticed joggers making their way through the cemetery, and children and dogs playing and laughing. All this struck me as odd. These people didn't seem to notice that this was a cemetery, or it just didn't phase them. Then I realized that others probably feel the same disconnection to the place as I did, since I didn't have any family ties there. It could be that the cemetery is quite old, and many grievers of these deceased individuals may not be around anymore. The project itself was interesting. We walked around for quite a while trying to figure out what we should do our analysis on, then finally decided on the most prominent landmarks: the mausoleums. The first one we saw was quite grand, with fresh flowers present. A few were like this, while a few were really erie. I enjoyed studying mausoleums and seeing which family groups were wealthy enough to afford these tombs, and which ones cared so much about their final resting spot that they felt it was important to build a shrine for themselves or their family members. I would definitely do this project again, or something like it. The only change I would make is conducting the study on a warmer day.. or wear thicker socks.