USING GRAVESTONE SURVEYS TO TEACH WEATHERING AND DATA ANALYSIS TO UNDERGRADUATES

Quantifying and describing rock weathering is difficult in natural settings as assessments of weathering require long periods between measurements and knowledge of a rock’s original form. Using cultural stone is one way around these difficulties. Cultural stone is rock that has been physically altered by humans and include any stone that has been quarried, abraded, engraved, chiseled, chipped, or dressed (Pope et al., 2002). Gravestones are optimal for studying weathering as they have dates engraved on them.

In a field-based exercise, students utilize Rahn’s Visual Weathering Classes and identification of weathering forms (granular disintegration, flaking, black crusts, etc.) to record weathering data. For each gravestone, students record the name(s), last death date, orientation, aspect, and weathering class from the engraving. In addition, students observe the rock type, weathering forms present, and local conditions of the gravestone. Each student is responsible for collecting 25-30 gravestone records. These records are then added to a multi-year database (> 1200 records) for analysis. Students analyze the database to write a journal article about gravestone weathering. The articles undergo anonymous peer review before final submission to the instructor.

Through database analysis, students can demonstrate higher degrees of weathering for marble and sandstone, older, flat, and west-facing (dominant wind direction is southwest) gravestones. Impacts due to climate cannot be assessed because all observations are from a common location. This exercise gives students methods to describe and quantify weathering of cultural stone, an understanding of local history and funeral traditions, and experience with scientific writing and the peer-review process.