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style and design of the gravestones and the names on the gravestones," said Virginia Hanson, archivist at the State Archives of the South Dakota State Historical Society, located in the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre. She often lectures about genealogy and the meaning of gravestones.
• Wood was a common material used to mark graves from the 1840s to about 1910 in South Dakota.
• "People often ask me why we have so many unmarked burial sites. A  reason is the markers possibly were made of wood. Wood only lasts so long," Hanson said.
• Names cut in wood became less visible as the wood weathered. Some wooden markers were consumed in prairie fires.
• Large rocks were also used to mark the location of graves.
• Some of the earliest gravestones in South Dakota were made of local stone, with the name of the deceased and year of death carved by hand into the stone. Symbols were added if the family could afford it.
• "Carvers charged by the letter, so if there was a lot of carving in the gravestone, that was quite an investment," Hanson said.

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