A Monumental Inscription is an inscription, typically carved in stone, on a grave marker or memorial plaque.
The primary purpose of monumental inscriptions is to serve as memorials to the dead. Those on gravestones are normally placed there by members of the deceased’s family. Those on memorial plaques inside churches etc are normally placed there by the wider community. The graves of those killed in wars and other armed conflicts are often placed together in military cemeteries in the country where the conflict took place; they are also remembered on war memorials in their own country.
Monumental inscriptions are also useful to genealogists and family historians, as they provide evidence of the date of death, and the age at death of the deceased. Family connections can often be resolved as members of the same family are often buried together.
Many old gravestones are now illegible due to weathering, but individuals and family history societies have recorded their inscriptions and publish them, either online, on microfiche or in book form. In England, the Society of Genealogists has a large collection. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has an online database of British and Commonwealth cemeteries and inscriptions.