The Moravian Cemetery on Long Island has a burial marker that contains fossils between 248 and 540 million years old. The fossils in question belong to a type of ancient marine invertebrate, and are located in a stone monument that was erected in the memory of the Civil War general Stephen Weed in 1863. Dr. Alan I. Benimoff, a geography professor at the College of Staten Island, discovered the fossils during a walking tour of the cemetery.
The Cemetery
Many members of prominent Staten Island families are buried in the Moravian Cemetery. The monument to General Stephen Weed that contains the fossils is located in the oldest section of the cemetery, which has gravestones dating back to 1740. The Moravian Cemetery offers walking tours of its grounds, and it was on one such tour that Dr. Alan Benimoff noticed the fossils.
The Fossils
The fossils are shallow marine invertebrates called crinoids, which belong to the same phylum as starfish. They have existed since the Paleozoic period, and some species have survived to the present day. Crinoids have long stalks that they use to filter food from the water around them. Cross-sections of the fossilized stalks are visible on the surface of the stone monument.
The Stone
The monument was cut from a type of sedimentary limestone that may be from upstate or central New York. Limestone is particularly favorable to the formation of marine fossils because it forms in shallow marine waters from the accumulation of organic debris.
The General
The monument in question is a 15-foot-high limestone gravestone erected in 1863 in memory of Brigadier General Stephen Weed. General Weed was 29 years old when he was killed during the Battle of Gettysburg, while in command of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, 5th Corps of the Army of the Potomac. He was struck by a bullet during the battle of Little Round Top.
Tags: Moravian Cemetery, Stephen Weed, Alan Benimoff, contains fossils, General Stephen
