Spade & the Grave

death and burial through an archaeological lens

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“Graveyards of Eastern Newfoundland” Book Pre-Order is live!

The book cover!

It’s nearly here! After two years of hard work, my first non-academic book is nearly out in the world! “Graveyards of Eastern Newfoundland: The history, stories, and unexpected beauty of 50+ intriguing cemeteries” is now available for pre-order wherever fine books are sold, and is scheduled to be released on Oct 19th, 2026! That’s only 2 months away folks, so pre-order yourself a copy today. My publisher is Boulder Books, a local Newfoundland publisher that is known for their focus on Atlantic Canada, guidebooks, and local history and interest. I’m thrilled to have partnered with them for this adventure, and really appreciate all their support!

Two years ago, at the start of this project, I was interviewed for a CBC article about the book. If you are interested in reading that piece, you can find it HERE.

Of course, there was no way that I’d have been able to cover all of the cemeteries, graveyards, and burial grounds (and yes, there are differences!) in this book. I apologies if I missed your family’s local cemetery! Sites were selected as I did my research based on interesting information that was coming up, my past research for my MA and PhD, and locations that I wanted to make sure visitors got a chance to explore. There were a few sites on the Connaigre Peninsula that I was hoping to include in the volume, but unfortunately I broke my knee in September 2026 in a rock climbing accident and wasn’t able to make it down to several communities that don’t have car access. It would have been hard to wander around when I couldn’t walk!

We are hoping to cover Western Newfoundland and Labrador in another book, however, so if you have any cemetery recommendations that I include in the book, please don’t hesitate to reach out! I’m especially looking for interesting sites along the Northern Peninsula and in Labrador, and would love to hear about any unique and historic burial grounds that are open to the public to visit.

Preordering books is super important these days! It tells the publisher that there is demand for the book up front, and tells book sellers that they might need to order more based on initial sales. It’s great for supporting your favourite authors! Also, you can ask you local library to preorder books as well, to keep that knowledge public and available to everyone!

You can preorder my book at the following locations:

Thank you again to everyone who has chatted with me about sites for this project, helped me track down historic images and information, and helped to make this project possible! Huge thank you to my husband Ian, for going out to take photos for me while I literally couldn’t walk, and to my friends for being hauled on a very specific hike while camping to take photos in the cold while I still couldn’t walk!! And everyone who pre-ordered the book so far, thank you for your support! It really means the world to me, and I hope you find a new favourite graveyard in those pages.

Thank you 🙂


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Book Release: “Daisy Wheel, Hexfoil, Hexafoil, Rosette: Protective Marks in Gravestone Art”

Exciting news, friends! I’m pleased to announce the release of my second book, “Daisy Wheel, Hexfoil, Hexafoil, Rosette: Protective Marks in Gravestone Art“, with Berghahn Books! It’s now available for pre-order, with publication in September 2024!

Pre-orders are now available through Berghahn’s website, click the link HERE to check it out! Just like with novels if you follow any authors online, you’ll know that pre-ordering a book is really important if you want to support that author because it lets the publisher know that there are people out there excited for the release and gives them an idea of demand and of the book’s success. You can also support the book (and me) by requesting that your library order a copy!

The cover of my upcoming book, provided by my editor at Berghahn Book!

A huge thank you to my editor, Caryn Berg, for reading my abstract for the 2020 SHA conference talks and reaching out to me with this project idea. I have been so thrilled to turn what has really been a huge interest for many years into something more tangible, and to have the opportunity to explore it in depth. Protective marks, aka apotropaic marks, can be found throughout many parts of the world, from Rome to Egypt, and England to North America and Australia. They were likely used to provide protection, like a lucky charm might, and can be found everywhere from churches to homes, to gravestones. The purpose of this book was to explore their use in a mortuary context throughout history, with a survey of colonial gravestones in North America that constitutes the first study of its kind of these symbols. It has been noted in gravestone research for decades that hexfoils and whorls are present in gravestone art, with a nod towards their apotropaic history, especially in the UK, but no further work had been carried out, and I hope with this volume that I’ve added a little to that conversation!

Buy my book! 🙂


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Book Launch: Burial & Death in Colonial North America

I’m so pleased to announce the publication of my first book, ‘Burial and Death in Colonial North America: Exploring Interment Practices and Landscapes in 17th-Century British Settlements‘, published by Emerald Published Ltd!

This book has been in the works technically since 2018, but really several years prior, as it incorporates a lot of my Master’s research! It is also filled with a bunch of really cool other stuff about 17th-century burial landscapes and practices, coffins styles, soil stains (well, I think they’re cool), and protective symbols on graves!

Published in Emerald’s ‘Emerald Points’ series, the book is available for pre-order through the Emerald Publishing website, Amazon, and The Book Depository, as both an ebook and a print book (pre-orders are open on some sites). It will be available as an ebook through multiple carriers soon!

If you are interested in downloading the flyer, CLICK HERE.

Thank you to everyone who helped me through this process, my family, friends, editors, twitter, etc! My two goals in life as a child were to become an archaeologist and to publish books. I always assumed that my first published book would be a novel, but I think academic books also check that box off (don’t worry, novel(s) are in the works)! The archaeology part has been covered for a while!

Citation:

Lacy, Robyn S. 2020. Burial and Death in Colonial North America: Exploring Interment Practices and Landscapes in 17th-Century British Settlement. Emerald Publishing Ltd.: Bingley, UK.