ABSTRACT
VERNACULAR Spontaneous or vernacular shrines are temporary and ephemeral sacred shrines erected to memorialize specific individuals. They are typically placed at the site of a murder or other catastrophic accident, usually involving multiple deaths. Official, permanent memorials are generally architectural or sculptural structures erected by communities, municipalities, and nations to memorialize wars and national heroes. Vernacular memorials have no official sanction and memorialize local, less well-known individuals. Memorials generally are not created at the site of death.
