A common question lately has been, How were people buried in Stone-Box Crypts?
Here are some examples of Cumberland Stone-Box Crypts from the Old Hurst Teagarden Cemetery in Marion County, Arkansas, where there are notably many infant burials. I have also posted two Stone-Box Crypts from the Grisso Cemetery.
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| Cumberland Stone-Box Crypt in Old Hurst Teagarden Cemetery |
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| Cumberland Stone-Box Crypt in Old Hurst Teagarden Cemetery |
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| Child's Cumberland Stone-Box Crypt in Old Hurst Teagarden Cemetery |
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| Child's Cumberland Stone-Box Crypt in Old Hurst Teagarden Cemetery |
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| Cumberland Stone-Box Crypt in Old Hurst Teagarden Cemetery |
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| Cumberland Stone-Box Crypt in Grisso Cemetery |
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| Collapsed Cumberland Stone-Box Crypt in Grisso Cemetery |
The stone boxes are native to the Cumberland Valley of Middle Tennessee, dating back to the Mississippian Culture, approximately 800 to 1600 A.D.
By around AD 1200, the Mississippian, Native-Americans of Nashville developed this distinct form of burial to honor their dead—the stone-box grave. It is believed that white settlers observed and adopted this method for burying their loved ones.
If a burial took place in winter, a fire would be built to thaw the ground before digging the shallow grave. This explains the presence of ashes within some graves—not as evidence of cremation, but as a practical necessity.
The term "Cumberland Stone-Box" was first introduced by Robert “Bob” Ferguson in 1972.
Enjoy Your Ozarks' History!
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