ABSTRACT
Many researchers have examined coffin hardware assemblages looking for patterns and trends associated with social factors, including social status, religion, gender, and ethnicity. This chapter presents case studies for each of these factors. A correlation between elaborate hardware and social status was identified by Hacker-Norton and Trinkley (1984) in their study of South Carolina hardware. In the study of a family cemetery in New York State, the elaborateness of the hardware recovered was categorized as plain, simple funerary, and elaborate funerary. In anthropology, ethnicity is marked by shared language, clothing, customs, and often place of family origin. Particularly instructive are those analyses that look beyond coffin hardware and consider other aspects of the burials and broader social patterns. Geographic location is also important to consider. This variation may be due to factors such as local popularity, availability, expense, wholesale purchasing habits, discounts for out-of-style hardware, and personal preference of individuals in local communities.
