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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 10h

Day 15: Language The grave of Sven Adolf Olsson, a Swedish man buried in 1936 in the Longyearbyen cemetery, Svalbard. His plaque is in Swedish, amongst mostly Norwegian markers, & has the plaque from his original marker on the replacement cross. #31DaysofGraves

A wooden cross, painted white, standing in a cemetery of identical wooden crosses. There are no trees around, and on the rocky hill behind the cemetery is a bit of old Mining buildings from a coal mine.

Close up of the plaques on the cross. The upper cross is the same as all the other crosses, reading 'Sven Adolf Olson, 5-1-1884, 12-7-1936'
The lower plaque is off his original grave marker, and reads "var kare brodder, fangstmanne, Sven Adolf Olsson, -same dates as above-, efterlamnar ett ljust och vackert minne".

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Day 13*: (yesterday was 12 oops) Unusual The grave of Isabella Card, 1873, has an unusual combo of marble inlayed panel and pointing hand on a sandstone gravestone! Old Parish Burying Ground, Windsor, NS. #31DaysofGraves

A sandstone gravestone which almost comes to a point, and then looks like a fleur de lis on top. There is a marble panel of text dedicated to Isabella Card, 1873, and about that is a marble hand pointing upwards sent into the sandstone. It's super unique!

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Day 13: Ordinary While I don't think any graves are really 'ordinary', this wooden marker from Cap Pelé, NB, is a very classic shape, complete with a Latin cross! #31DaysofGraves

A wooden grave marker with a semi-circular top and very tiny shoulders. The latin cross is painted gold, and the marker is dedicated to Mathias Landry, 1934

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Day 10: Missing This sandstone gravestone is weathering badly, obscuring a large part of the inscription. St. John's Cemetery, Halifax, NS #31DaysofGraves

A sandstone gravestone with a semi circular lunette and cut out shoulders. Most of the inscription is obscurred by the westhering, which almost looks like melting

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Day 9: Lettering This ironstone gravestone from 1778 has stunningly detailed lettering! Garrison Graveyard, Annapolis Royal, NS. #31DaysofGraves

A section of an ironstone gravestone showing detailed text. The words visible are 'The' 'Mrs. Ma...' 'a joyfu...' 'Merits'

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Day 8: Animal A lovely dove on a marble gravestone stacked with a bunch of others at Frazer Park Cemetery, Grand Bank, Nfld! #31DaysofGraves

An image of a marble gravestone with a decorative curling border along the top. There is a central image of a flying dove, with two flowers and a flower bud.

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Day 7: Home The replacement wooden grave marker of Lorne Lewis, whose hometown was New Bedford, Mass, but died in Victoria, BC at the 'Old Men's Home'. He served as a police officer in a period where very few Black men held such positions. #31DaysofGraves

The wooden grave marker of Lorne Lewis, painted white with black lettering. He was born in 1814 and died in Victoria in 1912.

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Day 6: Weather This broken grave maker covered in snow is at the old RC Burial ground in Harbour Grace, Nfld! I think it was a chest tomb at some point & was rearranged after collapse. There is no legible name, but it's not a pirate! #31DaysofGraves

A collapsed limestone chest tomb, partially covered by snow. The far panel has a cherub on it.

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

@lbugrankin.bsky.social speaking at the Svalbard #Archaeology Symposium about Inuit adaptation & trade in Labrador, including these Nfld Regiment shaker plates, from war of 1812 stovepipe hats! No ides why they are there!

Lisa Rankin, wearing a knitted wool sweater with nordic decoration pointing at a collection of artifacts on the screen. The screen shows a nfld regimental shaker plate, and a few shamanistic items including a tiny bone knife, an abstract object, and a cross.

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Day 4: Entrance Delightful gates of the Holy Trinity Parish Cemetery last fall, when we were consulting with a local heritage group on some site conservation! #31daysofgraves

A metal hand made arch that reads Holy Trinity Parish Cemetery, supported by two stone pillars made of many different squared stones. There is an open set of iron gates, and two people in toques and raincoats walking up into the cemetery.

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Day 3: Glass This marker at Cap-Pelé, NB, has a sculpture of praying hands set into the stone, behind a glass window. So unique! #31DaysofGraves

The grave of Josepg Phillipe Dupuis, 194p. It is a close up photo showing a statue of clasped hands praying with blue cufts, set into the stone behind a glass window with a wood frame.

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Day 2: Urn The grave of Mary Henkel at the Old Burying Ground in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with a gorgeously detailed urn with a bird sitting on top in the lunette. #31DaysofGraves

A sandstone gravestone with a lead cap at the old burying ground, Halifax. There is a slightly abstract urn with a bird on it above the inscription, to Mary Henkel, date missing

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Day 1: Flowers This monuments is in the St. Pancras Old Church, London, & dates to the mid C17th. Note the ornate carved flowers decorating the edges of the monument! #31DaysofGraves

A large marble wall monument to the deaths of several family members. The inscription is on what looks like a draped piece of fabric, and there is a carved skull with wings below. There are swirling flowers on the sides and bunches of flowers on the top.

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

It's time once again for #31DaysofGraves! Thank you @annaandthedead.bsky.social for putting together the prompts again this year!

A list of prompts for 31 Days of Graves. I will be typing each one out as I go!

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Happy 1 year anniversary of me not dying in a rock climbing accident! I cannot believe it has been a whole year, & 9 months of physio! I've got all but 5-7% of my range of motion back, stairs & slopes are getting better, & my left kneecap is slightly smaller than the right, but I'm alive 🧗‍♀️

The photo shows the view looking up q rock climbing craig from the base. The stone is streaked brown and grey, and tree branches reach towards it with a blue sky above.

My legs in the passenger seat of a car, wearing hree hiking pants with black panels over the knees. My left leg is being supported by a makeshift splint made of tree branches, a triangle bandange, and a climbing sling. I'm giving a thumbs up for not being dead, and its totally dark outside.

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Watching National Treasure, aka the best movie ever, & we're huge nerds so I was like 'I see you wire nail, you weren't built 200+ years ago' & my husband just cackled 🏺😂 #archaeology

Exhibit A: a board with a nail pulling through it because Nic Cage is pulling on it, on the tv which is paused. It's a round head wire nail, which is not accurate for something over 200 years old, and I noticed because I'm a dork.

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Attended a gravestone preservation review webinar today (happy to report my techniques are all up to snuff), & what do I spy?? My photo of a particularily terribel repair from the GPC in St. John's done with draw rails! It's the far left! 😂🏺

A slide with three gravestones on it. On the left is the back of a stone with two drawer rails bolted to it. In the centre is a stone capped with concrete, and on the right is a bad break repair to marble done with something grey...caulking possibly??

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Is this amazing soul effigy/cherub a good tattoo idea? (1819)

The semi-circular lunette of a sandstone gravestone showing a spooky cherub face with dramatic wings around it.

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

I particularily enjoyed the detail in the lettering & surviving lettering guidelines on this locally (probably in Halifax) carved ironstone headstone from 1778! The tiny 'Mrs'! The swirly H! #Archaeology 🏺

A section of a gravestone with iron coming through the surface and capped in lead, with the words The, Mrs. Ma..., and 'a Joyful' visible.

A section of the same gravestone with the words Here and Mortal visitible. The cross bar on the H is curved and adorable.

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Friends, I visited the Garrison Graveyard in Annapolis Royal today on a road trip around the area with my husband & parents! I hadn't been since my PhD research trip in 2022ish, it was so magical to be back! 🏺❤️

View looking across a grassy graveyard with tall leafy trees in the background, and a number of slate, marble, and sandstone gravestones in the foreground. The sky is overcast with some blue peaking through.

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

The mitten project is finished! Here are the 2 pairs I made with the same pattern, 1 trigger mitts, 1 normal! I made them for some dear friends we met in #Nfld who were moving far away for an amazing job. Had to send some Atlantic Canada down south with them ❤️

Two pairs of mittens laying on a towel on a wooden table for blocking. One is a pair of trigger mittens in white and green, and the other is a normal pair of mittens with grey and green.

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Here it is, available for preorder! 'Graveyards of Eastern Newfoundland' is available for preorder, with its final cover! The book is with the printer now & we have a release date of Oct 19th! 🎉 Book preorders is so important, so please consider! 🏺 #graveyard #nfld

My book cover! The cover is a blue sky over a graveyard of limestone gravestones with long grass and dandelions. The gravestone in the foreground has two tiny cherubs at the top, and the title is in bright yellow over a black rectangle, reading "Graveyards of Eastern Newfoundland" by me, Robyn Sarah Lacy.

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Happy #AskAnArchaeologist Day! What do you want to know?! I'm Dr. Lacy, & I'm a mortuary archaeologist, #gravestone conservator, & heritage researcher! 🏺

A 2016 fieldwork photo of me and my team at Ferryland, Newfoundland! It is a bit foggy, and there is a 5 unit trench open in the foreground.

It's me! I'm wearing a yellow raincoat zipped up to my chin with the hood up, grinning at the camera. I'm holding a large flip top notebook and am standing in a grassy field. It's a graveyard!

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Why did that not include the image! Here is the book cover, I'm really pleased! The gravestone dates to 1744 and is at St. Paul's in Trinity, NL! #gravestone

A limestone gravestone standing in a graveyard of yellow dandelions. A black bar across the cover of the book reads 'Graveyards of Eastern Newfoundland'in yellow text. By Robyn Sarah Lacy

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Finished the pair of trigger mitts I was working on! The Scottish diamonds pattern is so fun! #knitting #nfld

A pair of green and off-white trigger mittens with a diamond pattern on the backs. I am holding the pattern beside them, which reads 'Some Warm Mittens: Big Scottish Diamonds Mittens.' Pattern is by Shirley A. Scott

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Not the property I'm looking at, but I found another tree landmark! This one says 'Beginning at a beach tree at the southern angle...' so helpful for everyone I'm sure 😂 #archives #research 🏺

Photo of a line of text from 191s describing a property boundary. It begins with 'Beginning at a beach tree at the southern angle...'.

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

In case you were following the Tree as Landmark adventure this week, here is the actual text! A few colleagues said they'd never encountered such a useless direction in a deed before 😂🫠

Highlighted text in a deed from 1884 reading 'Beginning at a spruce tree standing on the south western bank of Lave Lovett on the eastern side of the road'. It is not a helpful description at all.

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Mitten 1 is done! This pattern is gorgeous, I can't wait to finish the pair! 🎉 #knitting #nfld

Finished trigger mitten in green and cream, in the big scottish squares pattern! I'm holding the mitten over my carpet.

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Stop the Presses, I stumbled upon a hot air balloon in the wild and got to go in it for a short ride! It was teathered, but it still counts!!

Looking up inside the Remax balloon! It has metal burners in the bottom of the frame and a flame in the middle of a red and white balloon

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

The pattern is actually called the Big Scottish Squares pattern, so it is very likely that it originated from the area! The women who created these patterns were collecting traditional patterns from Nfld to protect them. This one is quite old, but they have books now!

The front of a small knitting pattern trifold. It says 'Some Warm Mittens' at the top and shows red and white trigger mittens with a finger and thumb separate from the main mitten part. Below the photosl it says 'Big Scottish Diamond Mittens by Shirley A. Scott (Shirl the purl), from the Island of Newfoundland'

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

The best stage of trigger mittens is when the top is done but the index finger and the thumb aren't b/c it looks very silly 😂

Update in the mittins! I have now finished the top section, which looks silly because my index finger and thumb and sticking out

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

We have the USA vs Bosnia-Hertz on (for my husband) & I'm knitting the CUtest Newfie trigger mitts! 🤗

My hand holding up a partially finished mitten, in cream and green! It is the Big Scottish Diamond Mittens by Shirley A. Scott.

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Tentative cover of my upcoming guidebook to historic burial grounds in eastern #Newfoundland!! Thank you to the team @boulderbooks.bsky.social for supporting this project, I can't wait to see it irl this year! #cemetery #guidebook #author

Draft cover for my upcoming book! It has a simple limestone gravestone in the centre with two winged cherub heads in the middle, and the stone is surrounded with dandelions. It reads "Graveyards of Eastern Newfoundland. The history, stories, and unexpected beauty of 50+ intreguing cemeteries. By Robyn Sarah Lacy"

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Exciting news! The Svalbard Museum is hosting a Svalbard Archaeology Symposium this Oct! I'll be there, as part of the organizers & with some early-days research I'm working on! The talks are open to the public irl & via live stream, so stay tuned! 🏺 #Svalbard #conference

A snowy, low mountain range against a dark blue dusky sky. The text in white reads 'Svalbard Archaeolofy Symposium 2026: Svalbard Heritage in a Cold Oceans Perspective. Longyearbyen 6-7 October, 2026"

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

If you're an #archaeologist or concerned member of the public, here are the names & contact info for public figures to express your concerns to. I know I have some emails to write tomorrow. 🫠🏺 #Nfld #CanArch

This is graphic of names and photos numbers and emails of several political people in Nfld.

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Sharing some art! I haven't painted with acrylics for a while & this is my first time trying underpainting! This is the St. Paul's Church in Halifax, NS, built in 1750! #painting #acrylic

My left hand holding a very small canvas painting, about 3 inches square. It shows a cast iron fence in front of a white church with a grey tower. The sky is blue and there is a tree on the right side leaving inwards.

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Attending the online #CDAS20 conference tomorrow? Don't miss our panel session in the afternoon (11am AST) with authors from the edited volume that my colleague Robert & I put out last year! We're going to have a great time! #conference #centrefordeathandsociety #deathstudies

It's me! I am a white woman with chin length wavy and curly red hair and blunt bangs, smiling at the camera and wearing oranged framed glasses. I am wearing a green tshirt with a little silver pendant necklace. I'm holding up my booked called 'Death, Commemoration, and Cultural Meaning. Past a present, edited by Robert Spinelli and Robyn S. Lacy"

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Continuing this thread, I found a newspaper article about the accident from Sat, Oct 23, 1937. The plug blew out of an acid tank in the sulphite dept. of the AND Co. Mill, killing Harry & another man named James Barker. Harry had just returned to work after being home with an illness.

Excerpt from the Bay Roberts Guardian 1937, June 19-Dec 23. This clip is from Saturday Oct 23, 1937, and details a workplace accident at the Anglo Newfoundland Development Co which killed Harry Bertram Russell of Coley's Point, and James Barker of Grand Falls.

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Anyways, I forgot that I also repaired his gravestone in 2021! We did not set the base in concrete, but we did fix the break, clean it, & remove as much paint as possible. *this work was done at the request of the parish! #archaeology #conservation #gravestone 🏺

A marble gravestone wirh a repaired break in the middle. It is dedicated to Henry Bernard Russel, who died in 1937. The top of the stone has symbols relating to the Oddfellows I believe, including 3 chainlinks, a triangle with a skull inside, and then a Masons compass and square with a G in the middle.

The same gravestone, before restoration. The top half is laying on the grass and is stained green somehow.

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

For those who are curious, there is what I found in my pockets yesterday 🤷‍♀️ The brick and glass make me think I founs these all on a beach! Maybe on Fogo island last year?

My hand, holding several small items: a small red brick piece, a brown piece of beach glass, an iron stained tooth from a meat eater, and a smaller tooth with two roots. Gross

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Not too bad! She only needed her back legs cleaned up & the mats were mostly brushed out! She got a bunch of tuna with her dinner & ate more at once than I've literally ever seen 😸

A small black fluffy cat loafing on a white little platform on the windows sill. She is not looking at the camera.

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

My elder cat Sass is getting a home groomer visit today, & I'm at work so stay tuned as we all find out how much of a haircut she is going to get!

A small black cat, curled up on a couch covered in several blankets. She have her chin on her tail, and some grey floof poking out from her side.

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Don't we just love it when people wrote like this? 😂 #archives

Two sets of writing crossing over each other, from the late 1840s. It's very hard to read when people did that!

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Blasting through some Graveyard Guidebook edits (we are aiming to have it out this summer, stay tuned!) & I got to pull out my old faithful, 'Archaeology of Churches' by Rodwell. 🙏 #amwriting

My hand holding 'the archaeology of churches' by Warwick Rodwell. The book cover shows the interior of a cathedral. My laptop is just to the left with several lines of text highlighted. My legs with blue sweatpants are propped up on my coffee table, with by black, fluffy cat on my lap.

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Aww Iceberg season is starting in Nfld! That means it's nearly the anniversary of a 60lb iceberg chunk crushing my finger at work! An xray said it wasn't broken, but it took them a week to figure out my knee was broken in Sept sooo. 🧊

My left hand in a thumbs down sign, wearing a pink fitbit. My hand is pointing at a large freezer, with black garbage bags wrapped around chunks of icebergs.

My hand, fingers curled into my palm. My middle and pinky fingernails are painted turquoise. My ring finger nail is partly purple, and there are scabs on my finger where the iceberg landed.

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Hi #NovaScotia friends! I'm trying to figure out what this newspaper was named, but I only have the one article & this handwritten note with the title...the Nova Scotia M..? Does anyone know this paper? #archives

A screenshot of a newspaper with a note written in pen reading 'Article from Nova Scotia M... in Mail-Stand March 1984'

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

Ah, just a girl and her municipal building permits index from the 1890s 😍 #heritage #research

My hand is resting in a black and tan hard cover book with a broken spine. It says 'building permits' in gold embossed letter on the cover. Above the title, a white sticker says 'City of HFX City works dept and engineering dept building inspections index 1892-1907'

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Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Please enjoy these photos of my cats, who were not impressed to be in the car for 12 hrs yesterday! #moving #catsofbluesky

Sass, a small and fluffy black cat with a grey beard, stands on the dashboard of a uhaul truck. There are red taillights behond the window and its dark out. She is looking over my head with bog yellow eyes!

A large black cat named Giles is sitting in a small blue littler box, with massive yellow eyes and his ears back. his face is giving 'what is this?!'. The litter box is balanced on my knees in the cab of the uhaul.

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