A Memorial Stone is a monument honouring a hero's brave death in combat. Memorial Stones were built in India during the second half of the first millennium BCE and the 18th century C.E. Inscriptions and a variety of ornaments, including friezes, frieze panels, and carved stone figures, are frequently seen on them.

To commemorate the deceased Headstones humanize the dead with important details such as their name, title, age, key dates, and epitaph etched on them. This helps those passing by recall that it's a person lying beneath these stones no matter how much they get used to seeing the monument.

According to Jewish tradition, priests would become impure if they came within four feet of a dead body. Today, the tradition of leaving stones on a grave symbolizes showing respect to the deceased and serving as an indicator that someone has visited the gravesite.

Tracking the Origins of Using Headstones for Graves The gravestone as we know it did not appear until around 5,000 years ago. That's when ancient people in southeastern Europe and the Middle East first began placing stelae (stone markers) atop the graves of prominent members of the community.