engineering

Old Tombstone

Old Tombstone is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Old Tombstone rather than just read about it. In short: Old Tombstone, also known as the Denton Monument, is a folk art tombstone listed on both the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register in the town of Hollins, Virginia, United States. Located in the Tombstone Cemetery, just east of Plantation Road (Virginia State Route 115), Old Tombstone is noted for its folk art elements as being unique to Southwest Virginia.

Key takeaways

Old Tombstone belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Old Tombstone to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Old Tombstone from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Old Tombstone, also known as the Denton Monument, is a folk art tombstone listed on both the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register in the town of Hollins, Virginia, United States. Located in the Tombstone Cemetery, just east of Plantation Road (Virginia State Route 115), Old Tombstone is noted for its folk art elements as being unique to Southwest Virginia.

Description Old Tombstone is a monolithic freestone carving marking the grave of Robert Denton, who died in 1805, and is 4 ft (1.2 m) long, 2.6 ft (0.79 m) wide and, 1.6 ft (0.49 m) at its thickest point. The stone features a carving on its top exposing the head and torso of a child, with markings in German, English and Latin. The inscription reads: Once loved, once valued, now avails me not; Though my relations have not me forgot . . .

History The monument was designed by Laurence Krone, a prolific Virginia-German carver. Its design featuring a carving of a child, although commonplace in New England during the period, is unique to Southwest Virginia. Krone met the Dentons after the family took him in after falling ill at the turn of the 19th century. Due to the generosity of the family, Krone carved the monument free of charge upon the death of Robert Denton. By 1967, the ornate lid that once covered the sandstone face and bust of the child was stolen. As a result of the theft, the Hollins Lions Club constructed a roof and chain-link cage around the monument to protect it from vandals. Due to its architectural significance the monument was named to the Virginia Landmarks Register in 1977 and to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The cemetery where it is located, Tombstone Cemetery, takes its name directly from that of Old Tombstone.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Old Tombstone

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Old Tombstone claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Old Tombstone before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Old Tombstone ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Old Tombstone

In research: Old Tombstone appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Old Tombstone in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Old Tombstone is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Buildings and structures completed in 1805, Burial monuments and structures, Headstones, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Old Tombstone outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Old Tombstone in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Old Tombstone means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Old Tombstone out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Old Tombstone in simple terms?

Why does Old Tombstone matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Old Tombstone?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Old Tombstone.