Within our cemeteries, it is common to find among different symbols objects that may reflect either the profession of the buried person, or act as a reference to their affiliations or membership (i.e. Freemasonry). They may also represent their hobbies, leisure or fields of interest.
The hammer and pick is a symbol of mining, often used in heraldry. It can represent miners or the origin of a person from a mining area (it is common to find them crossed on coats of arms of mining towns).
The mallet represented with a chisel (to work wood) may also symbolise a carpenter, or remind one of St. Joseph.
As with many other working tools and instruments, the mallet and the chisel, alone, are also typical symbols of masonry, though it would be more common to find on graves the traditional aquare and compasses of Freemasonry (a universally accepted symbol, easier to recognise).