Unearthly Landscapes
New Zealand's Old Cemeteries

Stephen Deed

Key Points

• No previous book on subject.
• Makes a plea for rescuing old cemeteries from terminal neglect.
• Covers Maori and European cemeteries and burial practices over time.

Book

Every town and small settlement in New Zealand has an old cemetery. Rather than being ignored and left to moulder, the author argues that these are the repositories of family and community histories and should be treasured as part of our heritage from the past. Using many interesting examples, he discusses European and Maori approaches to death and burial at the time the two cultures came into contact and how cemeteries developed after European settlement. This book is for general readers and is profusely illustrated.

Contents

Introduction: Lonely Graves
1 The Cemetery in the West
2 Maori and Pakeha Burial in Early New Zealand
3 The Colonial New Zealand Cemetery
4 Burial New Zealand-Style
5 Monuments to the Dead
6 Heritage Cemeteries Now
Bibliography

Author

Stephen Deed has an MA in History at the University of Otago with a thesis on the subject of this, his first book. He works at the National Library, in Wellington.

History, Heritage
paperback, 176 pp approx, Many b/w, some colour
ISBN-10 1 877372 35 8, ISBN-13 978 1 877372 35 3, $35.00
Publication Date: forthcoming, 2010