Originally posted by Fzanco:

Tombstone stays on map forever, tombstones will only generate though if you have something in your inventory.

This is good to know. I've been meaning to ask how long a tombstone hangs around. About 600-700 game days ago I had an unfortunate incident involving a mountain, a blizzard, a cliff and free-fall (splat!). Then I did something stupid, I didn't put down and extra mark where the tombstone was. Died four more times, again, no mark. I know the general area they are in, just a matter of going over it with a fine tooth comb. Lost my upgraded Wolf/Iron/bronze and Troll armor and upgraded weapons (eventually found the Troll armor). The cliff emptied out on a large plains. I had to re-kill Bonemass to get another wishbone.

I was angry and depressed with myself for being so stupid I bought a one pound bag of potato chips and a large coke and ate it in one afternoon...Anyway, I kept playing, got the padded armor and killed off the other bosses. This gives me something to do until an update comes along. I was getting tired of wandering the biomes at night stocking up on food and ore and killing all the snotlings I could find.