Comb grave

[2][3] Comb graves may also have triangular end stones or iron rods to support the slabs, and sometimes do not have a headstone nor an inscription.

[6] The oldest comb graves were made in the 1820s, with the practice surviving in Overton County, Tennessee until the 1960s.

[4][2] Comb graves are unique to the Southern United States and have been found in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia.

[3][6] They are most often found in cemeteries along the Cumberland River in Tennessee, where the practice may have originated.

[4][5][6] There are an estimated 3,000 comb graves in the Highland Rim and Cumberland Plateau regions in Tennessee, with hundreds to the north near Kentucky and hundreds more spread around northern Arkansas, Alabama and Georgia.