BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//pretalx//pretalx.com//spathum24//talk//YRFP7J BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/Amsterdam BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20230927T000000 TZNAME:CEST TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20231029T030000 RDATE:20241027T030000 TZNAME:CET TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20240331T030000 RDATE:20250330T030000 TZNAME:CEST TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Mapping and Spatially Analysing the Heritage Inventory of a Histor ical Cemetery Complex in Singapore - Yew-Foong HUI DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20240926T173000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20240926T180000 DTSTAMP:20260809T015059Z UID:pretalx-spathum24-YRFP7J@pretalx.com DESCRIPTION:About 5\,000 graves from the historical Bukit Brown and Seh On g cemeteries (hereafter cemetery complex) in Singapore were exhumed in 201 3 to make way for an eight-lane carriageway. Prior to the exhumations\, gr ave inscriptions and features were documented digitally and geotagged usin g GPS\, and during the exhumations\, burial items were recorded comprehens ively. The data collected through this extensive documentation work produc ed a heritage inventory that could be dated (based on the inscriptions)\, mapped and spatially analysed. This paper seeks to reflect the socio-econo mic and cultural patterns associated with the graves\, and how they inters ect with the spatial-temporal development of the cemetery\, and to some ex tent\, the social history of Singapore.\n\nThe data for the heritage inven tory were collected under the auspices of the Bukit Brown Documentation Pr oject (BBDP) in 2011-2014 within a Geographic Information System (GIS) fra mework. At that time\, the Principal Investigator of the BBDP (also the fi rst author of this paper) focused on completing comprehensive documentatio n of the graves and burial items that were unearthed through the exhumatio n process. This massive amount of geotagged data underwent systematic post -processing to facilitate rigorous analysis within a GIS framework. The po st-processing and analysis included: (i) inscriptions\, and the structural and material cultural features of graves\; and (ii) burial items. In addi tion\, historical context was supplemented through archival research and o ral history interviews.\n\nFor (i) and (ii)\, post-processing involved fur ther coding of the data for meaningful analysis\, following two major line s of inquiry\, namely\, the investigation of patterns among graves based o n socio-economic status and Chinese sub-ethnic cultural categories. Where socio-economic status is concerned\, grave features and burial items were further coded to determine socio-economic status. In terms of Chinese sub- ethnic cultural categories\, inscriptions\, grave features and burial item s were coded to reveal the sub-ethnic origins of the deceased (i.e. Hokkie n\, Teochew\, Cantonese\, Hakka\, Hainanese and others). Furthermore\, spa tial analysis was conducted to determine the relationship between socio-ec onomic status/cultural origins and the distribution of graves in the cemet ery complex.\n\nThe dataset is of substantial heritage value\, not least b ecause the cemetery complex in question consists of both Bukit Brown Cemet ery (BBC) and Seh Ong Cemetery (SOC). The former was opened as a municipal Chinese cemetery in 1922 and closed to burial in 1973\, although it was a lmost fully populated by 1944 during World War 2. BBC was divided into fiv e blocks of standard-sized plots organized into grids that faced the same direction\, and the blocks were filled sequentially\, i.e. from Block 1 to Block 5. The land for SOC was acquired\, partly as burial grounds reserve d exclusively for Hokkien Ong clansmen\, in 1872. Burial in SOC followed t he conventions of clan association cemeteries\, whereby the size and locat ion of the plot depended on the wealth and social standing of the deceased . The graves that were affected by the road project and thereby documented happened to be distributed across SOC and all five blocks of BBC\, thus p roviding an excellent sample of graves of different cultural and socio-eco nomic origins from the late Qing dynasty period (late 19th and early 20th centuries) to the early Republican period (after 1911) and World War 2.\n\ nThrough analysing this unique and extensive dataset\, the paper seeks to shed light on the socio-economic patterns and cultural patterns in the lan dscape of the cemetery complex\, incorporating both the spatial and tempor al dimensions. The following are the key questions that the paper will add ress.\n1. Socio-economic patterns\ni) In what ways does socio-economic sta tus affect the distribution of graves in the cemetery complex. While it is almost definite that socio-economic status determines the location of the burial plot in SOC\, does socio-economic status play a role in BBC? More specifically\, would socio-economic status be reflected spatially\, given the Chinese penchant for higher burial grounds in association with better fengshui (geomancy)?\nii) Would socio-economic patterns be temporally sign ificant? That is\, would there be certain periods\, such as the 1930s Depr ession and the onset of the World War 2 years\, where socio-economic statu s or wellbeing\, as reflected by graves and burial items\, would take a ge neral dip?\n2. Cultural patterns\ni) Beyond the common sub-ethnic cultural categories\, i.e. Hokkien\, Teochew\, Cantonese\, Hakka and Hainanese\, a re there other cultural categories that salient through the material cultu re of the cemetery\, such as Peranakan?\nii) Are there spatial patterns in how the cultural groups are distributed in the cemetery complex?\niii) In what ways do these cultural categories affect inscriptions\, grave featur es and burial items?\n\nThe post-processing of the dataset and examination of the above questions propel the study beyond conventional epigraphic an alysis to provide sociological and cultural analyses of a deathscape\, thu s furnishing us with a more holistic understanding of the heritage value o f the historical cemetery complex. At the same time\, it extends GIS-relat ed mapping and analysis of cemetery data in recent years beyond gravestone morphology to incorporate material culture related to both aboveground fe atures and underground artifacts. 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