Scavenger Hunt: Graveyard Edition

An eerie wind chills us to the bone. The souls not yet at rest gently moan. We stumble upon the occasional late 17th century breastmilk motif. The spirits of the Old Cambridge Burying Ground are gathering in preparation for their 381st Halloween, billowing through this mortal coil like leaves on an autumnal breeze. The dead, clearly, are preparing to declare war on the living. Will Harvard become Howl-vard? Will Drew Faust become Drew… Ghost?

Not if you complete this scavenger hunt.

Find at least 20 disembodied human breasts. Five at minimum must be spewing milk.

“You do see a lot of breast imagery in Puritan carving,” says Caitlin G. D. Hopkins, a lecturer in History and Literature who specializes in New England burying grounds. These images tend to be found as decorative border motifs around the edges of stones erected in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. According to Hopkins, these images became popular because “the catechism in New England was called ‘Spiritual Milk for Boston Babes Drawn out of the Breasts of the Two Testaments,’” and the appearance of the breasts on stones implied a godly source of nourishment. A particularly evocative example of this can be found on the grave of R. Bunker by the burying ground’s large, central tree.

Find three graves that are super, super sad.

“There is a conflict between the theological needs and people’s emotional needs,” Hopkins says. For example, some heartbreaking stones mark the graves of children too young to undergo a conversion experience, and therefore too young in some Puritan sects to be allowed into heaven. Other sad spots in the burying ground include a corner where slaves of Harvard presidents are buried, segregated from the rest of the dead. Also, a wealth of graves from 1740 correspond to a devastating epidemic that swept through the University. It’s a really cheerful place.

Find at least 10 imps, four of which must be carrying coffins. Every imp you find holding an hourglass will additionally count towards your ScaredPlus balance.

“It’s not very subtle stuff,” Hopkins says. In Puritan New England, there was a strong emphasis on the Latin phrase “memento mori,” or “remember that you have to die.” The presence of images like imps, coffins, hourglasses, bones, and angels reminded visitors of their mortality, and of the ultimate goal of entering heaven. Even more intense examples of these images, like a horrifying skull gnawing on its own bones (found on the gravestone of Sarah Revere, wife of Paul) can be found in Boston burial grounds—“the Cambridge Burying Ground tends to be a little more restrained,” according to Hopkins. But a seriously spooky example of an impish grave can be found on the stone of William Dickson, just off a main brick path near First Parish Church.

Other features of the burial ground include the dramatic (and inaccurately placed) stones marking the graves of several Harvard presidents, and a faded marble obelisk, where the portal to the realm of the vengeful dead will be ripped open from the fabric of spacetime in a few days. Godspeed.