THE MEANING OF AMERICAN PET CEMETERY GRAVESTONES

Abstract

Research on American pet gravestone inscriptions going back more than a century provides ethnographic evidence supporting the widespread observation that many Americans conceive of companion animals as family members, and endow them with cultural characteristics close to those of humans. Pet gravestone inscriptions illustrate three principal developments over the past hundred years: first, the growing use of human names for pets; second, the evolving definition of pets as actual kin to their owners; and third, an enhanced religious and ethnic identity bestowed upon pets. The article’s conclusions suggest the reasons for these changes.