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The Association for Graveyard Studies

Gary L. Collison, former editor of Markers, as pictured in the publication shortly after his decease.
Gary L. Collison, former editor of Markers, as pictured in the publication shortly after his decease.

The Association for Graveyard Studies takes a scholarly approach to graveyards and the contents thereof. Their official word on themselves:

The Association for Gravestone Studies (AGS) was founded in 1977 for the purpose of furthering the study and preservation of gravestones. AGS is an international organization with an interest in gravemarkers of all periods and styles.

An FAQ offers practical advice “for the newcomer to gravestone studies”, including “answers to basic questions about gravemarkers, such as, ‘Gravestone Rubbing Do’s and Don’ts'”. The web site describes a host of membership benefits. Our too-quick perusal failed to find discounts or other special offers pertaining to a member’s transition to permanent ownership of a grave or of a graveyard.

The members, many of them, produce reports. The Association lists several kinds:

Markers: Annual Journal of the Association for Gravestone StudiesMarkers publishes definitive illustrated articles on cemetery and gravemarker topics as well as an extensive annual international bibliography of recent scholarship. (FREE to all members).

 The AGS Quarterly: Bulletin of the Association for Gravestone Studies contains feature articles and regular columns on conservation, epitaphs, and international gravestone studies. (FREE to all members).

One can read many back issues of Markers, preserved above ground (metaphorically speaking) by the Internet Archive. In your wanders through the archives, should you discover some outstandingly improbable reports, we hope you will alert us, that we might alert others. Behold the logo of the The Association for Graveyard Studies:

(Thanks to investigator Dan Vergano for alerting us to the Association’s existence.)

BONUS: The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman.

BONUS: “Killed by a coffin at Kensal Green Cemetary

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