Grave images: Scroll

A scroll carved on a gravestone is often interpreted to represent Christian scriptures. Another popular interpretation is that the scroll represents life and the passage of time.

More often than not, the gravestone inscription is carved on the scroll, which may support the scroll-as-life interpretation.

The scroll began to appear on gravestones in the mid- to late-nineteenth century. Now and then you might notice one on a contemporary stone as well.

  

  

  

Robert Ferguson, Blue Church Cemetery, Delaware County, Ohio
Jacob Colflesh, Liberty Church Cemetery, Delaware County, Ohio
Adelia Grummon, East Liberty Cemetery, Delaware County, Ohio
Elizabeth Harris, Oller Cemetery, Delaware County, Ohio
Nelson Edmond Taylor, Blue Church Cemetery, Delaware County, Ohio
Abigail M. Marks, Powell Cemetery, Delaware County, Ohio
Elizabeth Ferguson, Blue Church Cemetery, Delaware County, Ohio