ABSTRACT
The practice of burying the dead and making graves is many centuries old, if not prehistoric. The first visit to the deceased's grave by his or her relatives and close friends takes place at the time of burial or, to use a somewhat sanitized expression, internment. Repudiation of mourning may be so tenacious that the individual remains content with "rational" and logistical explanations for his not visiting the grave. The practice of carving inscriptions on gravestones is ancient and reflects the ubiquitous desire to perpetuate the memory of the dead. The irony that a grave played a role in creating more graves was too subtle to find notice in the midst of such mayhem. The site of a grave is usually chosen because of its proximity to where one's ancestors are buried, but the choice is also affected by where the loved ones left behind can conveniently come to visit.
