Tombstones of the 19th and Early 20th Century at Rural Cemeteries on the Northern Upper Ob

Abstract

On the basis of tombstones at rural cemeteries Dubrovino, Berdskoye, Chingis, Zavyalovo, and Spirino in the northern Upper Ob region, we address the provincial funerary culture of the late Russian Empire. We collate inscriptions on tombstones with parish registers from archival sources, sometimes identifying the buried persons’ names and their parents’ membership of the clerical estate. Detailed descriptions of tombstones, manufacturing techniques, and decoration are provided, and their typology is proposed. Most rural specimens are marble and resemble urban counterparts in type, decoration, and symbolism. The status of rural tombstones matches that of the respective villages. Most of these are either located on the Old Moscow Highway (Dubrovino), or were economically important on the regional scale, or were situated at river crossings (Berdskoye, Chingis, Spirino). We conclude that tombstones of the Upper Ob are informative with regard to the provincial social structure of the Russian Empire of the 1800s and early 1900. At most cemeteries, tombstones are rare and belong to wealthy members of rural communities.