Winged Skulls and Weeping Willows: Getting to know your local historic graveyard

Online resources:

Cemetery/Burying Ground resources:

Old Burying Ground http://oldburyingground.ca/
Old Burying Ground Information Sheet (NS Museum) https://ojs.library.dal.ca/NSM/article/view/5844/5187
Holy Cross https://www.holycrosshalifax.ca/
Historic Places https://www.historicplaces.ca for example https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=4160
Cemetery Records held at the Nova Scotia Archives (University Avenue, Halifax): https://novascotia.ca/archives/cemeteries/default.asp - mostly useful to Halifax area schools, but Lunenburg section may broadly helpful (more examples of stones, motifs, etc.)

Researching Individuals:

Historical Vital Statistics www.novascotiagenealogy.com
Online Historical Newspapers (especially the Acadian Recorder). Newspapers can also be useful for events, disasters, etc. ** not all newspapers list deaths https://novascotia.ca/archives/newspapers/
Acadian Recorder (Deaths are usually on page 3) https://novascotia.ca/archives/newspapers/archives.asp?ID=1734&Page=201116915&Language=
Other online sources for newspapers https://www.theancestorhunt.com/blog/nova-scotia-online-historical-newspapers-summary#.Xa8itpJKhaR

Gravestone Symbolism http://headstonesymbols.co.uk/ (UK-based site)

Other Resources:

James Deetz ‘In Small Things Forgotten: The Archaeology of Early American Life’ (chapter on grave markers)

Harold Mytum ‘Mortuary Monuments and Burial Grounds of the Historic Period’