The headstone, also known as the tombstone, has been around for thousands and thousands of years. It’s widely believed that cavemen began the practice of marking the place where their dead were laid to rest, and over the centuries, this developed into the practice of placing memorials, such as headstones or markers, by the grave.

As time evolved, so did the use of the headstone and the nineteenth century can take much of the credit for giving us the modern-day marker. This was the century where public cemeteries, especially in church yards, were born. Headstones became bigger, more solid and bearing more detailed inscriptions that added to the simple name, age and year of death. The twentieth century continued the evolution as memorial gravestones turned to elaboration, with many sculptured from all types of marble and granite, filling cemeteries carved, artful memorials.

The process of making headstones has evolved as much as the designs themselves. Granite is a natural material formed hundreds of millions of years ago from molten lava. After cooling, granite rock formations were formed throughout the world where many rock quarries are now established. Once the granite is mined from the quarries, they're delivered to factories where machines cut the rocks into manageable blocks before skilled craftsman begin the work of creating memorials worthy of honoring loved ones. 

Today, many headstone companies have replaced the hand-drawn design process with computer stencil cutting machines that allow for greater accuracy and higher output, and allow for magnificent designs.