ABSTRACT
Stone has many symbolic resonances that suit it for use in commemorating the dead. To help make sense of the cross-cultural phenomenon of stone memorials, I consider some of the roles stone plays in other aspects of human experience and the associations that arise from them. These associations give stone a certain aptness in connection with several projects of the living in relation to the dead: sheltering them, communicating with them, preserving them in memory, and ensuring their continued place within the community. Stone memorials represent the defiance of death, adamantly insisting that the dead remain real for us.
