Symbols of death, commemoration
Gravestones have been used since the ancient Roman and Celtic cultures. A gravestone marked the location of ancient Celtic burial mounds. Celtic warriors, crosses, and twin Janus-like figures were depicted on their ancient gravestones. Rather than individual gravestones, these stones identified the region where there were graves. Individual gravestones record the location where military figures are buried in Ancient Rome during the 1st century BC. Figures, epitaphs, and other imagery can be found on these gravestones. Beginning in the 1600s, individual, long-lasting gravestones were erected. Individual gravestones may have existed before to this, but they were almost certainly constructed of wood. For a long time, gravestones have marked the locations where individuals have died. There are other tombstone myths, such as avoiding standing on a horizontal stone or being drugged inside the grave. Gravestones play an important role in current horror films since they mark the places where people have died. The horror linked with death and the unknown of the afterlife is symbolized by scenes of a fog-covered graveyard or a hand stretching out below the gravestone.