Ancestral Graveyards
Ancestral graveyards are graveyards, catacombs, or crypts that largely or exclusively house the remains of a specific family, tribe, clan, royal house, or other group. They may be found near manors, haunted mansions, castles, or holy lands among other places. Ancestral graveyards may be home to groundskeepers, ancestral spirits, and people in quiet contemplation.
| Synonyms: burial plots, cemeteries, tribal burial grounds, family plots, ancestral crypts |
| Example Mythonyms: the Clan Gravelands, the Werthmire Family Crypt |
| Places |
Designing Fictional Ancestral Graveyards
Archetypes
Overview
Having been established over the course of generations, ancestral graveyards may be a mix of headstones, markers, crypts, and mausoleums from different time periods. Certain burial sites and head stones may be given more prominence, as they may house the remains of people revered by the community.
In fictional narratives ancestral graveyards are often a place of meditation before major events and if ancestral spirits exist in a fictional world, they may be present to help guide those seeking aid. The destruction of ancestral graveyards is also common in narratives, and can be associated with a diaspora and the separating of a people from their past. The destruction of an ancestral graveyard can lead to the haunting of a location, such as with places built on the sites of ancient burial grounds.
