The Surratt Courier

[Joe Di Cola]

I remember the first time I ever heard of "leases" on burial sites was in the village of Deia on the island of Mallorca. I went to Deia to visit both the village and the gravesite of English poet Robert Graves (no pun intended!). His grave was still "intact", but along the walls of the cemetery were old gravestones that had been placed there after the occupants (or what was left of them) were either disinterred or covered over with a more recent burial. Is this a common practice in areas where there is limited space? Is this a mostly European phenomenon? Is this done in the United States?

Joe