DAPHNE, Ala. — Why are people buried with coins placed over their eyes? Are people really buried facing eastward? Do fingernails grow after you die?

These are some of the myths and misconceptions about the burial process that city of Mobile cemetery specialist H.F. “Tige” Marston addressed in his presentation Sunday at the Old Methodist Church Museum of Daphne.

A portion of the event included a true-and-false session in which Marston dispelled many commonly-held misconceptions about the burial process.

“Most people think that graves are always six feet deep,” he said, “when they’re usually about four feet deep.”

Marston said a belief that people are buried facing east is true; however, it is outdated. According to Marston, many people buried during the Victorian era were facing east.

“Jews are still buried facing east,” he said, so they face the holy site of Jerusalem’s first and second temples — now part of the Wailing Wall. Marston added that Muslims Americans are buried on their right side so they face Mecca, where the Islamic prophet Muhammed was buried.

Marston said a myth about placing coins over a person’s eyes when they are buried comes from classical Greek culture. He said the ancient Greeks placed coins on the eyes so the person could “pay the boatman as they cross the River Styx” on their journey to the afterlife.

A commonly-held misconception is that fingernails grow after a person dies. “Nothing grows after we die,” Marston said. “As the body shrinks, sometimes the nails push out.” Marston said he thinks the misconception comes from Hollywood vampires. He said the movie-vampire image of a shadowy figure with long fingernails has been influential in spreading the misconception.

Marston specializes in Victorian-era cemeteries; he oversees Mobile’s 175-year-old Magnolia Cemetery as well as the Church Street Graveyard, two of the area’s oldest Victorian Era burial grounds. The Victorian era, named after Great Britain’s Queen Victoria, spans the 1830s to 1901, paralleling the years of Victoria’s reign. Typical Victorian-style burial elements include large, elaborate monuments, tombs, mausoleums and crypts. Marston said many of these era tombstones contain symbolic features ranging from botanical, animal, ancient Egyptian and classical Greek.

Marston is responsible for maintaining the records at Magnolia Cemetery as well as the Church Street Graveyard’s and Mobile’s ongoing city sexton’s records for all burials within city limits.

Marston also manages the city’s daily family service responsibilities at the cemetery and graveyard.

During his career, Marston has served as director of the Catholic Cemetery of Mobile and vice president of Mobile Memorial Gardens.