A well visited cemetery

 

Leaving small rocks on the tops of a headstones is apparently a common practice. But, until the other day, I had never noticed the  stones and when I did I was left to wonder about the significance. After asking about I found the most frequent explanation, and there were a number, was that this is based on what was originally a Jewish tradition. The small stone indicated that someone had visited the grave. Someone had shown respect for the deceased.

Look closely at the headstones marking the graves of soldiers who died in the Second World War and you will notice that many of the headstones have a small rock on the top of headstone. Clearly, this is a well visited cemetery.