What's the earliest year you've seen on a gravestone?

It's fascinating stumbling upon old gravestones with centuries-old dates! 1717 is incredibly early, and it must have been a unique experience.

Hey there, what's up! I'm new on this forum, and I stumbled upon this old post of yours. I gotta say, it's pretty interesting! I've never really paid attention to the dates on gravestones before, but now I'm curious. The earliest year I've seen on a gravestone was 1792. I was walking through a cemetery with my friends and we stumbled upon it. It was made of Sunset Red Granite [link removed by Moderator] and looked really old school. It was pretty cool to see something that old. I don't know much about gravestones, but I've heard that Red Granite is a popular material for them. I guess it's because it's durable and looks nice. I'm not sure if that's true or not, but it sounds legit. Anyways, thanks for starting this thread. It's always interesting to learn new things.

That's a fascinating question. I've stumbled upon some pretty old gravestones in my time, but the oldest one I've seen was from the late 1700s. Seeing how much history is buried in these cemeteries is always fascinating. Speaking of gravestones, have you ever considered a [link removed by moderator]? They're a great way to honor your loved ones and provide a peaceful spot to sit and reflect. Bench Headstone has some attractive options that can be customized to fit your style. Sending you and your fam lots of love during this challenging time.

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I don't know about gravestones but what about the earliest graffiti? I found some 1700 something once by captured soldiers in a French castle, but graffiti goes back almost as far as homo sapiens e.g. it is carved on ancient stone graves. I find that so interesting. Especially as it's usually the names of the graffiti-ists carved there.

Apparently there is some Viking graffiti somewhere. One says 'Ingegard is a horny bItsh.' Another says 'this was written by a very tall Dane'. hahahaha.

A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, date of birth, and date of death inscribed on it, along with a personal message, or prayer, but may contain pieces of funerary art, especially details in stone relief. In many parts of Europe, insetting a photograph of the deceased in a frame is very common.

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If it is there is a risk of the headstone leaning forward. Although every precaution is made to prevent this, we can't stop the ground moving. Therefore I advise waiting at least a year.

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With modern pollution gravestones tend to degrade into unreadable after a couple of centuries.  So I can't find any really old ones.

Grey friars Kirk Edinburgh 1616