I remember going through school my teacher telling us that the only qualification a Spartan women had to put their name on a gravestone was because their son had died on the battle field. Is there more to the story?
Spartan women were buried in unmarked graves unless they had died in childbirth. Men were buried in unmarked graves unless they had died in battle.
Source: undergraduate Greek class, this book: http://books.google.com/books?id=c3k2AN1GulYC&pg=PA68&lpg=PA68&dq=women+sparta+childbirth+grave&source=bl&ots=oLf3b5H98Q&sig=6QyMDd-PDkEFadiNrD78MMTIow0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=kFbdUpDJHNHKsQSNuYDQCw&ved=0CD8Q6AEwBg