cemeteries and graveyards

[skinnybones]

i was just wondering what other th's thought about these places. i myself think these places are taboo and off limits, akin to grave robbing. but they would be great places to search. just curious for other peoples thoughts or how they feel about this subject.

[INDY]

This is just my view on this, I have hunted an old abanded church that is about 100 feet away from the grave yard, so you can clearly see where the church yard is and where the grave yard begins. I felt that it was ok where I was at because of the distance between the two. I don't think anyone would ever hunt close to the actual graves, that is sick. The church yards are a great place to hunt, especially the really old ones!
Bobbi

This past spring I got involved with a group of people who wanted to restore a local cemetery from the 1800s. About a hundred people were on the still surviving books, but only about 40 stones were still standing. I have a bit of a reputation for researching family connections in the county, so I was asked to try my best to match the existing stones with extended family members (married daughters surnames) to get a feel for family plots. I got more than one funny look walking around an old cemetery with a rod, poking around for buried stones and stone foundations.

I wrestled with the detecting question when I wanted to locate hardware from a few of the wrought iron fencing around some of the family plots. the were all down and half buried in the ground. I thought it would be nice to reassemble them and restore their finish. Should I detect the hardware and pieces of the fence. That was a tough one.

As our present society would have it, someone at the church responsible for the graveyard said the "L" word and spooked the congregation. Legal liability concerns stopped the project immediately. Really was a shame, we could have done it right. I still wonder if I would have taken the Ace in there though.......

HH all'
HJ

[carolinachief]

I will put my opinion in here: Drives, walk ways, outer edges, any walls, and of course trees are areas people would have traveled or gathered at. They would be good producers. I don't have a problem digging those areas as long as you leave as little evidence that you have been there as possible.(That should be everywhere we dig) Of course no digging on top of graves. Somebody paid for that burial plot and you would be damaging their property without permission. It is also best policy to obtain permission from the caretakers before you dig anywhere. Just my opinion.