![20000 graveyard](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/20000_graveyard.jpg)
Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of
final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objects in it, and covering it over. A
funeral
A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...
is a
ceremony
A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion.
The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin '' caerimonia''.
Church and civil (secular) ...
that accompanies the final disposition. Humans have been burying their dead since shortly after the origin of the species. Burial is often seen as indicating respect for the dead. It has been used to prevent the odor of decay, to give family members closure and prevent them from witnessing the decomposition of their loved ones, and in many cultures it has been seen as a necessary step for the deceased to enter the
afterlife
The afterlife (also referred to as life after death) is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's identity or their stream of consciousness continues to live after the death of their physical body. The surviving ess ...
or to give back to the cycle of life.
Methods of burial may be heavily ritualized and can include
natural burial
Natural burial is the interment of the body of a dead person in the soil in a manner that does not inhibit decomposition but allows the body to be naturally recycled. It is an alternative to other contemporary Western burial methods and funerary ...
(sometimes called "green burial");
embalming
Embalming is the art and science of preserving human remains by treating them (in its modern form with chemicals) to forestall decomposition. This is usually done to make the deceased suitable for public or private viewing as part of the funeral ...
or
mummification
A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furth ...
; and the use of containers for the dead, such as
shroud
Shroud usually refers to an item, such as a cloth, that covers or protects some other object. The term is most often used in reference to ''burial sheets'', mound shroud, grave clothes, winding-cloths or winding-sheets, such as the famous Shr ...
s,
coffin
A coffin is a funerary box used for viewing or keeping a corpse, either for burial or cremation.
Sometimes referred to as a casket, any box in which the dead are buried is a coffin, and while a casket was originally regarded as a box for jewel ...
s,
grave liner
A burial vault (also known as a burial liner, grave vault, and grave liner) is a container, formerly made of wood or brick but more often today made of metal or concrete, that encloses a coffin to help prevent a grave from sinking. Wooden coffi ...
s, and
burial vaults
A burial vault (also known as a burial liner, grave vault, and grave liner) is a container, formerly made of wood or brick but more often today made of metal or concrete, that encloses a coffin to help prevent a grave from sinking. Wooden coffin ...
, all of which can retard decomposition of the body. Sometimes objects or
grave goods
Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are the items buried along with the body.
They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods. Grave goods may be classed as a ...
are buried with the body, which may be dressed in fancy or ceremonial garb. Depending on the culture, the way the body is positioned may have great significance.
The location of the burial may be determined by taking into account concerns surrounding health and sanitation, religious concerns, and cultural practices. Some cultures keep the dead close to provide guidance to the living, while others "banish" them by locating burial grounds at a distance from inhabited areas. Some religions
consecrate
Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...
special ground to bury the dead, and some families build private family
cemeteries
A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...
. Most modern cultures document the location of graves with
headstones
A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, da ...
, which may be inscribed with information and tributes to the deceased. However, some people are buried in anonymous or secret graves for various reasons. Sometimes multiple bodies are buried in a single grave either by choice (as in the case of married couples), due to space concerns, or in the case of
mass graves
A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of execution, although an exact ...
as a way to deal with many bodies at once.
Alternatives to burial include
cremation
Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a Cadaver, dead body through Combustion, burning.
Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India ...
(and subsequent interment),
burial at sea
Burial at sea is the disposal of human remains in the ocean, normally from a ship or boat. It is regularly performed by navies, and is done by private citizens in many countries.
Burial-at-sea services are conducted at many different location ...
and
cryopreservation
Cryo-preservation or cryo-conservation is a process where Organism, organisms, organelles, cell (biology), cells, Biological tissue, tissues, extracellular matrix, Organ (anatomy), organs, or any other biological constructs susceptible to damage ...
. Some human cultures may bury the remains of
beloved animals. Humans are not the only species to bury their dead; the practice has been observed in
chimpanzees
The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative the ...
,
elephants
Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae and ...
, and possibly
dogs
The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...
.
History
![Burial IMG 1858](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Burial_IMG_1858.jpg)
Intentional burial, particularly with
grave goods
Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are the items buried along with the body.
They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods. Grave goods may be classed as a ...
, may be one of the earliest detectable forms of religious practice since, as
Philip Lieberman
Philip Lieberman (October 25, 1934 – July 12, 2022) was a cognitive scientist at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Originally trained in phonetics, he wrote a dissertation on intonation. His career focused on topic ...
suggests, it may signify a "concern for the dead that transcends daily life."
Evidence suggests that the
Neanderthals
Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an Extinction, extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ag ...
were the first
human species
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, an ...
to practice burial behavior and intentionally bury their dead, doing so in shallow graves along with stone tools and animal bones.
Exemplary sites include
Shanidar
Shanidar Cave ( ku, Zewî Çemî Şaneder ,ئەشکەوتی شانەدەر, ) is an archaeological site located on Bradost Mountain, within the Zagros Mountains, in the Erbil Governorate of Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq.
It is known for the ...
in Iraq,
Kebara Cave
Kebara Cave ( he, מערת כבארה, Me'arat Kebbara, ar, مغارة الكبارة, Mugharat al-Kabara) is a limestone cave locality in Wadi Kebara, situated at above mean sea level, above sea level on the western escarpment of the Mount Car ...
in Israel and
Krapina
Krapina (; hu, Korpona) is a town in northern Croatia and the administrative centre of Krapina-Zagorje County with a population of 4,482 (2011) and a total municipality population of 12,480 (2011). Krapina is located in the hilly Zagorje region ...
in Croatia. Some scholars, however, argue that these bodies may have been disposed of for
secular
Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...
reasons.
Though there is ongoing debate regarding the reliability of the dating method, some scholars believe the earliest
human
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...
burial dates back 100,000 years. Human skeletal remains stained with
red ochre
Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...
were discovered in the Skhul cave at
Qafzeh
Mount Precipice ( he, הר הקפיצה, "''Har HaKfitsa''"; ar, جبل القفزة, "''Jebel al-Qafzeh''", "Mount of the Leap"), also known as Mount of Precipitation, Mount of the Leap of the Lord and Mount Kedumim is located just outside the ...
, Israel. A variety of grave goods were present at the site, including the mandible of a wild boar in the arms of one of the skeletons.
In ancient Egypt, customs developed during the
Predynastic period
Prehistoric Egypt and Predynastic Egypt span the period from the earliest human settlement to the beginning of the Early Dynastic Period around 3100 BC, starting with the first Pharaoh, Narmer for some Egyptologists, Hor-Aha for others, with th ...
. Round graves with one pot were used in the
Badarian Period (4400-3800 B.C.E.), continuing the tradition of Omari and
Maadi
Maadi ( ar, المعادي / transliterated: ) is a leafy suburban district south of Cairo, Egypt, on the east bank of the Nile about upriver from downtown Cairo. The Nile at Maadi is parallelled by the Corniche, a waterfront promenade a ...
cultures.
Prehistoric
cemeteries
A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...
are referred to by the more neutral term
grave field
A grave field is a prehistoric cemetery, typically of Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe.
Grave fields are distinguished from necropoleis by the former's lack of remaining above-ground structures, buildings, or grave markers.
Types
Grave fields can b ...
. They are one of the chief sources of information on prehistoric cultures, and numerous
archaeological culture
An archaeological culture is a recurring assemblage of types of artifacts, buildings and monuments from a specific period and region that may constitute the material culture remains of a particular past human society. The connection between thes ...
s are defined by their burial customs, such as the
Urnfield culture
The Urnfield culture ( 1300 BC – 750 BC) was a late Bronze Age culture of Central Europe, often divided into several local cultures within a broader Urnfield tradition. The name comes from the custom of cremating the dead and p ...
of the
European Bronze Age
The European Bronze Age is characterized by bronze artifacts and the use of bronze implements. The regional Bronze Age succeeds the Neolithic and Copper Age and is followed by the Iron Age. It starts with the Aegean Bronze Age in 3200 BC
(succ ...
.
During the
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...
, the reopening of graves and manipulation of the corpses or artifacts contained within them was a widespread phenomenon and a common part of the life course of early medieval cemeteries across
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
and
Central Europe
Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the area' ...
.
The reopening of furnished or recent burials occurred over the broad zone of European row-grave-style furnished inhumation burial, especially from the 5th to the 8th centuries CE, which comprised the regions of
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
, the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
,
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, the
Low Countries
The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, and South-eastern
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
Reasons for human burial
After death, a body will decay. Burial is not necessarily a
public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...
requirement. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the
WHO
Who or WHO may refer to:
* Who (pronoun), an interrogative or relative pronoun
* Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism
* World Health Organization
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Who, a creature in the Dr. Seuss book '' Horton He ...
advises that only corpses carrying an
infectious disease
An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...
strictly require burial.
Human burial practices are the manifestation of the human desire to demonstrate "respect for the dead". Cultures vary in their mode of respect.
Some reasons follow:
* Respect for the physical remains. If left lying on top of the ground, scavengers may eat the corpse, considered disrespectful to the deceased in many (but not all) cultures. In Tibet,
sky burial
Sky burial (, "bird-scattered") is a funeral practice in which a human corpse is placed on a mountaintop to decompose while exposed to the elements or to be eaten by scavenging animals, especially carrion birds. It is a specific type of the ...
s deliberately encourage scavenging of human remains in the interest of returning them to nature, just as within
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion and one of the world's History of religion, oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian peoples, Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a Dualism in cosmology, du ...
, where burial and cremation were often seen as impure (as human remains are polluted, while the earth and fire are sacred).
* Burial can be seen as an attempt to bring
closure to the deceased's family and friends. Psychologists in some Western Judeo-Christian quarters, as well as the US funeral industry, claim that by interring a body away from plain view the pain of losing a loved one can be lessened.
* Many cultures believe in an
afterlife
The afterlife (also referred to as life after death) is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's identity or their stream of consciousness continues to live after the death of their physical body. The surviving ess ...
. Burial is sometimes believed to be a necessary step for an individual to reach the afterlife.
* Many
religion
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
s prescribe a particular way to live, which includes customs relating to disposal of the dead.
* A decomposing body releases unpleasant gases related to decomposition. As such, burial is seen as a means of preventing smells from expanding into open air.
Burial methods
In many
culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...
s, human
corpses
A cadaver or corpse is a dead human body that is used by medical students, physicians and other scientists to study anatomy, identify disease sites, determine causes of death, and provide tissue to repair a defect in a living human being. Stu ...
were usually buried in soil. The roots of burial as a practice reach back into the Middle Palaeolithic and coincide with the appearance of ''
Homo neanderthalensis
Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an Extinction, extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ag ...
'' and ''
Homo sapiens
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...
'', in Europe and Africa respectively. As a result, burial grounds are found throughout the world. Through time,
mounds of earth,
temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
s, and caverns were used to store the dead bodies of
ancestor
An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from whom ...
s. In modern times, the
custom
Custom, customary, or consuetudinary may refer to:
Traditions, laws, and religion
* Convention (norm), a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted rules, norms, standards or criteria, often taking the form of a custom
* Norm (social), a r ...
of burying dead people below ground, with a
stone marker to indicate the burial place, is used in most
cultures
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...
; although other means such as
cremation
Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a Cadaver, dead body through Combustion, burning.
Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India ...
are becoming more popular in the West (cremation is the norm in India and mandatory in big metropolitan areas of Japan).
Some burial practices are heavily
ritual
A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, b ...
ized; others are simply practical.
Burial depth
It is a common misconception that graves must be dug to a depth of six feet (1.8 metres). This is reflected in the common euphemism for death of ''six feet under''.
[James K. Crissman, ''Death and Dying in Central Appalachia: Changing Attitudes and Practices'', University of Illinois Press, 1994, pp. 1, 62. .] In fact, graves are rarely dug to this depth except when it is intended to later bury a further coffin or coffins on top of the first one. In such cases, more than six feet may be dug, to provide the required depth of soil above the top coffin.
[Mary LaCoste, ''Death Embraced: New Orleans Tombs and Burial Customs'', Lulu, 2015, pp. 56, .]
In the United States, there is no nationwide regulation of burial depth. Each local authority is free to determine its own rules. Requirements for depth can vary according to soil type and by method of burial.
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, for instance, requires only 19 inches of soil above the top of the coffin, but more commonly 30 to 36 inches are required in other places.
[ In some areas, such as central ]Appalachia
Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ca ...
, graves were indeed once dug to a depth of six feet to prevent the body being disturbed by burrowing animals. However, this was unnecessary once metal caskets and concrete vaults started to be used.[
In the United Kingdom, soil is required to be to a depth of three feet above the highest point of the coffin, unless the burial authority consider the soil to be suitable for a depth of only two feet.
The earliest known reference to a requirement for a six-foot burial occurred in 1665 during the ]Great Plague of London
The Great Plague of London, lasting from 1665 to 1666, was the last major epidemic of the bubonic plague to occur in England. It happened within the centuries-long Second Pandemic, a period of intermittent bubonic plague epidemics that origi ...
. John Lawrence, the Lord Mayor of London
The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...
, ordered that the bodies of plague victims "...shall be at least six foot deep." The city officials apparently believed this would inhibit the spread of the disease, not realising that the true vector
Vector most often refers to:
*Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction
*Vector (epidemiology), an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism
Vector may also refer to:
Mathematic ...
was fleas living on rats in the streets. In the event, there were so many victims that very few were buried in individual graves. Most were placed in massive plague pit
A plague pit is the informal term used to refer to mass graves in which victims of the Black Death were buried. The term is most often used to describe pits located in Great Britain, but can be applied to any place where bubonic plague victims were ...
s so it is unlikely that this event alone gave rise to the "six feet" tradition.[
]
Natural burial
Natural burial
Natural burial is the interment of the body of a dead person in the soil in a manner that does not inhibit decomposition but allows the body to be naturally recycled. It is an alternative to other contemporary Western burial methods and funerary ...
—also called "green burial"—is the process by which a body is returned to the earth to decompose naturally in soil, and in some cases even protect native and endangered wildlife. Natural burial became popularized in the United Kingdom in the early 1990s by Ken West, a professional cremator operator for the city of Carlisle
The City of Carlisle ( , ) is a local government district of Cumbria, England, with the status of a city and non-metropolitan district. It is named after its largest settlement, Carlisle, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns ...
, responding to the U.K's call for changes in government that aligned with the United Nations' Environmental Program Local Agenda 21
Agenda 21 is a non-binding action plan of the United Nations with regard to sustainable development. It is a product of the Earth Summit (UN Conference on Environment and Development) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. It is an action age ...
. In addition, there are multiple green burial sites in the United States. Green burials are developing in Canada (Victoria, BC, and Cobourg, Ontario), as well as in Australia and Ireland.
The increase in popularity of alternative burials can be seen as a direct choice of the individual's want to distance themselves from religious practices and spiritual locations as well as an opportunity to exercise their act of choice. The desire to live through nature as well as concern for the environment have been the backbone of the green burial movement. The use of coffin
A coffin is a funerary box used for viewing or keeping a corpse, either for burial or cremation.
Sometimes referred to as a casket, any box in which the dead are buried is a coffin, and while a casket was originally regarded as a box for jewel ...
s made from alternative materials such as wicker and biodegradable
Biodegradation is the breakdown of organic matter by microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi. It is generally assumed to be a natural process, which differentiates it from composting. Composting is a human-driven process in which biodegradati ...
materials as well as trees and other flora are being used in place of headstone
A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, da ...
s. Both practices provide sustainable alternatives to traditional burial practices.
Natural burials have been attracting people for reasons outside of environmental and sustainability factors as well. With the expansion of urban centres, ecological corridors gradually disappear. Cemeteries for burial plots preclude alternative uses of the land for a long time. By combining these two aspects (need for connectivity and land take imposed by cemeteries), two positive results can be achieved: protecting memories of the past and connecting ecosystems with multiple-use corridors. Green burials appeal to people for economic reasons. Traditional burial practices can be a financial burden causing some to turn to green burials as a cheaper alternative. Some people view green burials as more meaningful, especially for those who have a connection to a piece of land, such as current residence or other places that hold meaning for them.
Types of natural burial
=Conservation burial
=
Conservation burial is a type of burial where burial fees fund the acquisition and management of new land to benefit native habitat, ecosystems and species. This usually involves a legal document such as a conservation easement
In the United States, a conservation easement (also called conservation covenant, conservation restriction or conservation servitude) is a power invested in a qualified private land conservation organization (often called a "land trust") or gove ...
. Such burials go beyond other forms of natural burial, which aim to prevent environmental damage caused by conventional burial techniques, by actually increasing benefits for the environment. The idea is for the burial process to be a net positive for the earth rather than just neutral. Scientists have argued that such burials could potentially generate enough funds to save every endangered species on the planet. The Green Burial Council certifies natural and conservation burial grounds in the United States and Canada.
=Memorial reef
=
The memorial reef is a natural, alternative approach to burial. The cremated remains of a person are mixed in with concrete and then placed into a mold to make the memorial reef or eternal reef. After the concrete sets, family members are allowed to customize the reef with writing, hand prints and chalk drawings. After this, the eco-friendly reefs are placed into the ocean among other coral reef
A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups.
Co ...
s where they help to repair damage to the reefs while also providing new habitats for fish and other sea communities. It has become a new way to memorialize the passing person while also protecting the marine environment. The high cost of the memorial reefs has caused this alternative form of burial to remain minimal and uncommon. This kind of natural burial is practiced in permitted oceans in the United States specifically in locations around Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland, New Jersey, Texas and Virginia.
=Alkaline hydrolysis
=
Alkaline hydrolysis
Alkaline hydrolysis, in organic chemistry, usually refers to types of nucleophilic substitution reactions in which the attacking nucleophile is a hydroxide ion.
Example
In the alkaline hydrolysis of esters and amides the hydroxide ion nucleophi ...
, also referred to as resomation, is another approach to natural burial. It uses high temperature water mixed with potassium hydroxide
Potassium hydroxide is an inorganic compound with the formula K OH, and is commonly called caustic potash.
Along with sodium hydroxide (NaOH), KOH is a prototypical strong base. It has many industrial and niche applications, most of which exp ...
to dissolve human remains. During this process, the body is put into an enclosed, stainless steel chamber. The chamber fills with the chemical and water solution and is then lightly circulated. After a couple of hours, the body is worn down and bone is the only thing that remains. The bones are then pressed down into a powder and returned to the associated family. The outcome is comparable to cremation
Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a Cadaver, dead body through Combustion, burning.
Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India ...
but results in an environmentally friendly process that does not release chemical emissions and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, as was confirmed after a review by the Health Council of the Netherlands. After this process, the water used goes to a regular water treatment facility where it is filtered and cleaned and returned to the water cycle. At this time, resomation is permitted for commercial use in areas throughout the United States. However, several other countries, including the United Kingdom are considering using this technology within their medical schools and universities.
=Mushroom burial
=
Mushroom burial has been developed by Jae Rhim Lee
Jae Rhim Lee (born 1975 in Gwangju, South Korea) is an artist and TED Fellow working at the intersection of art, science, and culture. Lee aims to promote "acceptance of and a personal engagement with death and decomposition" by breeding a unique ...
and her colleagues to address the impact traditional burial approaches have on the environment. It is an eco-friendly process which consists of dressing the cadaver in a bodysuit with mushroom spores woven into it, nicknamed the Infinity Burial Suit. Rhim developed her own mushrooms by feeding them her hair, skin, and nails to create a mushroom variety that will best decompose human remains. As the mushrooms grow, they consume the remains within the suit as well as the toxins that are being released by the body. Rhim and her colleagues created this suit as a symbol of a new way for people to think about the relationship between their body after death and the environment.
= Tree pod burials
=
Another method of natural burial is being developed to plant the human body in fetal position
Fetal position (British English: also foetal) is the positioning of the body of a prenatal fetus as it develops. In this position, the back is curved, the head is bowed, and the limbs are bent and drawn up to the torso. A compact position is ...
inside an egg shaped pod. The pod containing the body will form a biodegradable
Biodegradation is the breakdown of organic matter by microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi. It is generally assumed to be a natural process, which differentiates it from composting. Composting is a human-driven process in which biodegradati ...
capsule that will not harm the surrounding earth. The biodegradable capsule doubles as a seed which can be customized to grow into either a birch
A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...
, maple
''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...
, or eucalyptus
''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...
tree. The goal of this method is to create parks full of trees that loved ones can walk through and mourn, as opposed to a graveyard full of tombstones. This method aims to return the body to the earth in the most environmentally friendly way possible.
The tree pod method originated in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
but is now becoming a more popular method of burial. The definition of natural burial grounds suggests that people are being buried without any kind of formaldehyde-based embalming fluid or synthetic ingredients, and that the bodies that are being returned to the earth will also be returning nutrients to the environment, in a way that is less expensive than other available burial methods. Not only are tree pods a more cost effective and environmentally friendly way to memorialize loved ones, this method also offers emotional support. The memories of loved ones will be immortalized through the concept of a deceased person having a medium (trees) that will continue to live and grow.
Prevention of decay
Embalming
Embalming is the art and science of preserving human remains by treating them (in its modern form with chemicals) to forestall decomposition. This is usually done to make the deceased suitable for public or private viewing as part of the funeral ...
is the practice of preserving a body against decay and is used in many cultures. Mummification
A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furth ...
is a more extensive method of embalming, further delaying the decay process.
Bodies are often buried wrapped in a shroud
Shroud usually refers to an item, such as a cloth, that covers or protects some other object. The term is most often used in reference to ''burial sheets'', mound shroud, grave clothes, winding-cloths or winding-sheets, such as the famous Shr ...
or placed in a coffin
A coffin is a funerary box used for viewing or keeping a corpse, either for burial or cremation.
Sometimes referred to as a casket, any box in which the dead are buried is a coffin, and while a casket was originally regarded as a box for jewel ...
(or in some cases, a casket). A larger container may be used, such as a ship
A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...
. In the United States, coffins are usually covered by a grave liner
A burial vault (also known as a burial liner, grave vault, and grave liner) is a container, formerly made of wood or brick but more often today made of metal or concrete, that encloses a coffin to help prevent a grave from sinking. Wooden coffi ...
or a burial vault, which prevents the coffin from collapsing under the weight of the earth or floating away during a flood.
These containers slow the decomposition process by (partially) physically blocking decomposing bacteria
Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...
and other organisms from accessing the corpse. An additional benefit of using containers to hold the body is that if the soil covering the corpse is washed away by a flood
A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...
or some other natural process then the corpse will still not be exposed to open air.
Inclusion of clothing and personal effects
The body may be dressed in fancy and/or ceremonial clothes. Personal objects of the deceased, such as a favorite piece of jewelry or photograph, may be included with the body. This practice, also known as the inclusion of grave goods
Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are the items buried along with the body.
They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods. Grave goods may be classed as a ...
, serves several purposes:
* In funeral
A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...
services, the body is often put on display. Many cultures feel that the deceased should be presented looking his or her finest. Others dress the deceased in burial shroud
Shroud usually refers to an item, such as a cloth, that covers or protects some other object. The term is most often used in reference to ''burial sheets'', mound shroud, grave clothes, winding-cloths or winding-sheets, such as the famous Shr ...
s, which range from very simple to elaborate depending on the culture.
* The inclusion of ceremonial garb and sacred objects is sometimes viewed as necessary for reaching the afterlife
The afterlife (also referred to as life after death) is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's identity or their stream of consciousness continues to live after the death of their physical body. The surviving ess ...
.
* The inclusion of personal effects may be motivated by the beliefs that in the afterlife people will wish to have with them what was important to them on earth. Alternatively, in some cultures, it is felt that, when a person dies, their possessions (and sometimes people connected to them such as wives
A wife ( : wives) is a female in a marital relationship. A woman who has separated from her partner continues to be a wife until the marriage is legally dissolved with a divorce judgement. On the death of her partner, a wife is referred to as ...
) should go with them out of loyalty or ownership.
* Although not generally a motivation for the inclusion of grave goods with a corpse, it is worth considering that future archaeologists
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
may find the remains (compare time capsule
A time capsule is a historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a deliberate method of communication with future people, and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians. The preservation of holy relics dates ba ...
). Artifacts such as clothing and objects provide insight into how the individual lived. This provides a form of immortality
Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some modern species may possess biological immortality.
Some scientists, futurists, and philosophers have theorized about the immortality of the human body, with some suggesting that human immorta ...
for the deceased. In general, however, clothing buried with a body decays more rapidly than the same buried alone.
Traditions
Body positioning
Burials may be placed in a number of different positions. Bodies with the arms crossed date back to ancient cultures such as Chaldea
Chaldea () was a small country that existed between the late 10th or early 9th and mid-6th centuries BCE, after which the country and its people were absorbed and assimilated into the indigenous population of Babylonia. Semitic-speaking, it was ...
in the 10th century BC, where the "X" symbolized their sky god. Later ancient Egyptian gods and royalty, from approximately 3500 B.C. are shown with crossed arms, such as the god Osiris, Osiris, the Lord of the Dead, or mummified royalty with crossed arms in high and low body positions, depending upon the dynasty. The burial of bodies in the extended position, i.e., lying flat with arms and legs straight, or with the arms folded upon the chest, and with the Human eye, eyes and Human mouth, mouth closed. Extended burials may be supine (lying on the back) or prone (lying on the front). However, in some cultures, being buried face down shows marked disrespect like in the case of the Sioux. Other ritual
A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, b ...
practices place the body in a flexed position with the legs bent or crouched with the legs folded up to the chest. Warriors in some ancient societies were buried in an upright position. In Islam, the body is placed in supine position, hands along the sides and the head is turned to its right with the face towards the Qibla. Many cultures treat placement of dead people in an appropriate position to be a sign of respect even when burial is impossible.
In nonstandard burial practices, such as mass burial, the body may be positioned arbitrarily. This can be a sign of disrespect to the deceased, or at least nonchalance on the part of the inhumer, or due to considerations of time and space.
Orientation
Most often, a burial will be oriented to a specific direction for religious purposes, as are the case for persons of the Abrahamic faiths. Standard Jewish burials are made supine east-west, with the head at the western end of the grave, in order to face Jerusalem. In other cases, the body may be buried on a north-south axis, or, simply facing towards the exit of the cemetery or burial grounds. This is done in order to facilitate the return to Israel foretold of all those who are resurrected at the Jewish eschatology, end of time following the coming of the Messiah in Judaism, Messiah. Historically, Christian burials followed similar principles, where the body was placed east-west, to mirror the layout of Christian Church (building), churches, which were themselves oriented as such for much the same reason; to view the coming of Christ on Judgment day (Christian eschatology, Eschaton). In many Christian traditions, ordained clergy are traditionally buried in the opposite orientation, and their coffins carried likewise, so that at the General Resurrection they may rise facing, and ready to minister to, their people.
In an Islamic funeral, the grave should be aligned perpendicular to the Qibla (the direction to the Kaaba in Mecca) with the face turned to the right along the Qibla.
Inverted burial
For humans, maintaining an upside down position, with the head vertically below the feet, is highly uncomfortable for any extended period of time, and consequently burial in that attitude (as opposed to attitudes of rest or watchfulness, as above) is highly unusual and generally symbolic. Occasionally suicides and assassins were buried upside down, as a post-mortem punishment and (as with #Burial at cross-roads, burial at cross-roads) to inhibit the activities of the resulting undead.
In ''Gulliver's Travels'', the Lilliputians buried their dead upside down:
Swift's notion of inverted burial might seem the highest flight of fancy, but it appears that among English millenarians the idea that the world would be "turned upside down" at the Apocalypse enjoyed some currency. There is at least one attested case of a person being buried upside down by instruction; a Peter Labilliere, Major Peter Labilliere of Dorking (d. 4 June 1800) lies thus upon the summit of Box Hill, Surrey, Box Hill. Similar stories have attached themselves to other noted eccentrics, particularly in southern England, but not always with a foundation in truth.
Burial traditions throughout the world
South Korea
South Korea's funeral arrangements have drastically changed in the course of only two decades according to Chang-Won Park. Park states that around the 1980s at home funeral ceremonies were the general norm, straying away from anywhere that was not a family home. Dying close to home, with friends and family, was considered a 'good death', while dying away from home was considered a 'bad death'. This gradually changed as the upper and middle class started holding funerals in the mortuaries of hospitals. This posed an issue for hospitals because of the rapid increase in funerals being held and maxing occupancy. This resolved when a law was passed to allow the civilian population to hold funerals in the mortuaries of hospitals. The lower class then followed suit, copying the newly set traditions of the upper classes. With this change, the practice of cremation became viewed more as an alternative to traditional burials. Cremation was first introduced by Buddhism, but was banned in 1470. It wasn't until the Japanese colonization period that cremation was re-introduced in 1945 and later lifted the ban. It took until 1998 for cremation to rapidly grow in popularity.
Tana Toraja
A Ted Talk done by Kelli Swazey discusses how Tana Toraja Regency, Tana Toraja, a Sulawesi province in Eastern Indonesia, experiences death as a process, rather than an event. The culture of Tana Toraja views funerals as the most important event in a person's life. Because of this importance placed on death, Tana Toraja landscape is covered in the rituals and events transpired after death. The hierarchy of an individual's life is based on the sacrifices of animals made after their death. Funerals tend to be celebrated by Tana Toraja people, typically lasting days to even weeks long. Death is seen as a transformation, rather than a private loss. A Torajan is not considered 'dead' until their family members are able to collect the resources necessary to hold a funeral that expresses the status of the deceased. Until these funerals are upheld the deceased are held in Tongkonan, built to house corpses that are not considered 'dead'. The deceased can be held in Tongkonan for years, waiting for their families to collect the necessary resources to hold a funeral. The Tongkonan represents both the identity of the family and the process of birth and death. The process of birth and death is shown by having the houses that individuals are born in be the same structure as the Tongkonan, houses that individuals die in. Up until the funeral the deceased being housed in the Tongkonan are symbolically treated as members of the family, still being cared for by family members.
Australian Aboriginals (Northern Territory)
Northern Territory Aboriginal Australians, Australian Aboriginals have unique traditions associated with a loved one's death. The death of a loved one sparks a series of events such as smoking out the spirit, a feast, and leaving out the body to decompose. Immediately after death, a smoking ceremony is held in the deceased's home. The smoking ceremonies purpose is to expel the spirit of the deceased from their living quarters. A feast is held where mourners are covered in ochre, an earthy pigment associated with clay, while they eat and dance. The traditional corpse disposal of the Aboriginals includes covering the corpse in leaves on a platform. The corpse is then left to decompose.
Burial among African-American slaves
In the History of slavery in the United States, African-American slave community, slaves quickly familiarized themselves with funeral procedures and the location of gravesites of family and friends. Specific slaves were assigned to prepare dead bodies, build coffins, dig graves, and construct headstones. Slave funerals were typically at night when the workday was over, with the master present to view all the ceremonial procedures. Slaves from nearby plantations were regularly in attendance.
At death, a slave's body was wrapped in cloth. The hands were placed across the chest, and a metal plate was placed on top of their hands. The reasoning for the plate was to hinder their return home by suppressing any spirits in the coffin. Often, personal property was buried with slaves to appease spirits. The coffins were nailed shut once the body was inside, and carried by hand or wagon, depending on the property designated for slave burial site.
Slaves were buried oriented East to West, with feet at the Eastern end (head at the Western end, thus raising facing East). According to Christian doctrine, this orientation permitted rising to face the return of Christ without having to turn around upon the call of Gabriel's trumpet. Gabriel's trumpet would be blown near the Eastern sunrise.
Burial in the Baháʼí Faith
In the Baháʼí Faith, burial law prescribes both the location of burial and burial practices and precludes cremation of the dead. It is forbidden to carry the body for more than one hour's journey from the place of death. Before interment the body should be wrapped in a shroud of silk or cotton, and a ring should be placed on its finger bearing the inscription "''I came forth from God, and return unto Him, detached from all save Him, holding fast to His Name, the Merciful, the Compassionate''". The coffin should be of crystal, stone or hard fine wood. Also, before interment, a specific Prayer for the Dead is ordained. The body should be placed with the feet facing the Qiblih. The formal prayer and the ring are meant to be used for those who have reached fifteen years of age.
Locations
Where to bury
Apart from sanitary and other practical considerations, the site of burial can be determined by religious and socio-cultural considerations.
Thus in some traditions, especially with an animistic logic, the remains of the dead are "banished" for fear their spirits would harm the living if too close; others keep remains close to help surviving generations.
Religious rules may prescribe a specific zone, e.g. some Christian traditions hold that Christians must be buried in consecration, consecrated ground, usually a cemetery; an earlier practice, burial in or very near the church (hence the word churchyard), was generally abandoned with individual exceptions as a high posthumous honour; also many existing funeral monuments and crypts remain in use.
Royalty and high nobility often have one or more "traditional" sites of burial, generally monumental, often in a palatial chapel or cathedral.
In North America, private family cemeteries were common among wealthy landowners during the 18th and 19th centuries. Many prominent people were buried in private cemeteries on their respective properties, sometimes in lead-lined coffins. Many of these family cemeteries were not documented and were therefore lost to time and abandon; their grave markers having long since been pilfered by vandals or covered by forest growth. Their locations are occasionally discovered during construction projects.
Marking the location of the burial
Most modern cultures mark the location of the body with a headstone
A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, da ...
. This serves two purposes. First, the grave (burial), grave will not accidentally be exhumed. Second, headstones often contain information or tributes to deceased. This is a form of remembrance for loved ones; it can also be viewed as a form of immortality
Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some modern species may possess biological immortality.
Some scientists, futurists, and philosophers have theorized about the immortality of the human body, with some suggesting that human immorta ...
, especially in cases of famous people's graves. Such monumental inscriptions may subsequently be useful to genealogists and family historians.
In many cultures graves will be grouped, so the monuments make up a necropolis, a "city of the dead" paralleling the community of the living.
Unmarked grave
In many cultures graves are Burial#Marking the location of the burial, marked with durable markers, or monuments, intended to help remind people of the buried person. An unmarked grave is a Grave (burial), grave with no such memorial marker.
Anonymous burial
Another sort of unmarked grave is a burial site with an anonymous marker, such as a simple cross; boots, rifle and helmet; a sword and shield; a cairn of stones; or even a monument. This may occur when identification of the deceased is impossible. Although many unidentified deceased are buried in potter's fields, some are memorialized, especially in smaller communities or in the case of deaths publicized by local media. Anonymous burials also happen in poorer or disadvantaged populations' communities in countries such as South Africa, where in the past the Non-white population was simply too poor to afford headstones. At the cemetery in a small rural town of Harding, KwaZulu-Natal, many grave sites have no identification, and just have a border of stones which mark out the dimensions of the grave site itself.
Many countries have buried an unidentified soldier (or other member of the military) in a prominent location as a form of respect for all unidentified war dead. The United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
's Tomb of the Unknown Warrior is in Westminster Abbey, France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
's is buried underneath the Arc de Triomphe, Italy's is buried in the Altare della Patria#Unknown soldier, Monumento al Milite Ignoto in Rome, Canada's is buried at the National War Memorial (Canada), National War Memorial in Ottawa, Australia's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is located at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, New Zealand's New Zealand Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, Tomb of the Unknown Warrior is in Wellington, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Moscow), Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Russia is in Alexander Garden in Moscow and the United States' Tomb of the unknowns, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is located at Arlington National Cemetery.
Many cultures practice anonymous burial as a norm, not an exception. For instance, in 2002 a survey for the Federal Guild of German Stonemasons found that, depending on the location within Germany, from 0% to 43% of burials were anonymous. According to ''Christian Century'' magazine, the perspective of the Roman Catholic Church is that anonymous burials reflect a dwindling belief in God. Others claim that this trend is mainly driven by secularism and the high costs of traditional burials.
Secret burial
In rare cases, a known person may be buried without identification, perhaps to avoid desecration of the corpse, grave robbing, or vandalism of the burial site. This may be particularly the case with infamous or notorious figures. In other cases, it may be to prevent the grave from becoming a tourism, tourist attraction or a destination of pilgrimage. Survivors may cause the deceased to be buried in a secret location or other unpublished place, or in a grave with a false name (or no name at all) on the marker.
When Walt Disney was cremation, cremated his ashes were buried in a secret location in Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale), Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, California. Some burial sites at Forest Lawn, such as those of Humphrey Bogart, Mary Pickford and Michael Jackson, are secluded in private gated gardens or mausoleums with no public access. A number of tombs are also kept from the public eye. Forest Lawn's Court of Honor indicates that some of its crypts have plots which are reserved for individuals who may be "voted in" as "Immortals"; no amount of money can purchase a place. Photographs taken at Forest Lawn are not permitted to be published, and their information office usually refuses to reveal exactly where the remains of famous people are buried.
Multiple bodies per grave
Some couples or groups of people (such as a Marriage, married couple or other family members) may wish to be buried in the same plot. In some cases, the coffins (or urns) may simply be buried side by side. In others, one casket may be interred above another. If this is planned for in advance, the first casket may be buried more deeply than is the usual practice so that the second casket may be placed over it without disturbing the first. In many states in Australia all graves are designated two or three depth (depending of the water table) for multiple burials, at the discretion of the burial rights holder, with each new interment atop the previous coffin separated by a thin layer of earth. As such all graves are dug to greater depth for the initial burial than the traditional six feet to facilitate this practice.
Mass burial is the practice of burying multiple bodies in one location. Civilizations attempting genocide often employ mass burial for victims. However, mass burial may in many cases be the only practical means of dealing with an overwhelming number of human remains, such as those resulting from a natural disaster, an act of terrorism, an epidemic, or an accident. This practice has become less common in the developed world with the advent of genetic testing, but even in the 21st century remains which are unidentifiable by current methods may be buried in a mass grave.
Individuals who are buried at the expense of the local authorities and buried in potter's fields may be buried in mass graves. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was once believed to have been buried in such a manner, but today it is known that such burials were never allowed in Mozart's Vienna whose Magistrate refused to agree to the burial regulations decreed by Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, Joseph II. In some cases, the remains of unidentified individuals may be buried in mass graves in potter's fields, making exhumation and future identification troublesome for law enforcement.
Naval ships sunk in combat are also considered mass graves by many countries. For example, U.S. Navy policy declares such wrecks a mass grave (such as the USS Arizona Memorial) and forbids the recovery of remains. In lieu of recovery, divers or submersibles may leave a plaque dedicated to the memory of the ship or boat and its crew, and family members are invited to attend the ceremony.
Sites of large former battlefields may also contain one or more mass graves. Douaumont ossuary is one such mass grave, and it contains the remains of 130,000 soldiers from both sides of the Battle of Verdun.
Catacombs also constitute a form of mass grave. Some catacombs, for example Catacombs of Rome, those in Rome, were designated as a communal burial place. Some, such as the catacombs of Paris, only became a mass grave when individual burials were relocated from cemeteries marked for demolition.
Judaism does not generally allow multiple bodies in a grave. An exception to this is a grave in the military cemetery in Jerusalem, where there is a ''kever achim'' (Hebrew language, Hebrew, "grave of brothers") where two soldiers were killed together in a tank and are buried in one grave. As the bodies were so fused together with the metal of the tank that they could not be separately identified, they were buried in one grave (along with parts of the tank).
Cremation
There are several common alternatives to burial. In cremation
Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a Cadaver, dead body through Combustion, burning.
Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India ...
the body of the deceased is burned in a special oven. Most of the body is combustion, burnt during the cremation process, leaving only a few pounds of bone fragments. Bodies of small children and infants often produce very little in the way of "ashes", as ashes are composed of bone, and young people have softer bones, largely cartilage. Often these fragments are processed (ground) into a fine powder, which has led to cremated remains being called ''ashes''. In recent times, cremation has become a popular option in the western world.
There is far greater flexibility in dealing with the remains in cremation as opposed to the traditional burial. Some of the options include scattering the ashes at a place that was loved by the deceased or keeping the ashes at home. Ashes can also be buried underground or in a columbarium niche.
A method with similar benefits is Promession, freeze-drying the corpse.
Live burial
Sometimes people are buried alive. Having no way of escaping interment, they die in place, typically by asphyxiation, dehydration, starvation, or hypothermia, exposure to climate. People may come to be buried alive in a number of different ways;
* ''Intentional'': buried alive as a method of Execution (legal), execution or murder, called ''immurement'' when the person is entombed within walls. In ancient Rome, Vestal Virgins who broke their vows were punished in this way.
* ''Accidental'': A person or group of people in a cave, mine, or other underground area may be sealed underground by an earthquake, cave in, avalanche or other natural disaster or accident.
* ''Inadvertent'': People have been buried alive because they were mistakenly pronounced dead by a coroner or other official.
Edgar Allan Poe wrote a number of stories and poems about premature burial, including a story called "The Premature Burial". These works inspired a widespread popular fear of this appalling but unlikely event. Various expedients have been devised to prevent it, including burying telephones or sensors in graves.
Burial at cross-roads
Historically, burial at Crossroads (culture), cross-roads was the method of disposing of death penalty, executed Crime, criminals and suicides.[ In Great Britain this tradition was altered by the Burial of Suicide Act 1823, which abolished the legal requirements of burying suicides and other people at crossroads. Junction (road), Cross-roads form a crude cross shape and this may have given rise to the belief that these spots were selected as the next best burying-places to consecrated ground. Another possible explanation is that the ancient Teutons, Teutonic (Germanic) ethnic groups often built their altars at the cross-roads, and since human sacrifices, especially of criminals, formed part of the ritual, these spots came to be regarded as execution grounds. Hence after the introduction of Christianity, criminals and suicides were buried at the cross-roads during the night, to assimilate as far as possible their funeral to that of the paganism, pagans. An example of a cross-road execution-ground was the famous Tyburn, London, Tyburn in London, which stood on the spot where the Roman road to Edgware and beyond met the Roman road heading west out of London.]
Superstition also played a part in the selection of crossroads in the burial of suicides. Folk belief often held such individuals could rise as some form of undead (such as a vampire) and burying them at crossroads would inhibit their ability to find and wreak havoc on their living relations and former associates.
Burial of animals
By humans
In addition to burying human remains, many human cultures also regularly bury animal remains.
Pets and other animals of emotional significance are often ceremonially buried. Most families bury deceased pets on their own properties, mainly in a yard, with a shoe box or any other type of container served as a coffin
A coffin is a funerary box used for viewing or keeping a corpse, either for burial or cremation.
Sometimes referred to as a casket, any box in which the dead are buried is a coffin, and while a casket was originally regarded as a box for jewel ...
. The ancient Egyptians are known to have Mummy, mummified and buried cats, which they considered deity, deities.
By other animals
Humans are not always the only species to bury their dead. Common chimpanzee, Chimpanzees and elephants are known to throw leaves and branches over fallen members of their family groups. In a particularly odd case, an elephant which trampled a human mother and child buried its victims under a pile of leaves before disappearing into the bushes. In 2013, a viral video caught a dog burying a dead puppy by pushing sand with its own nose. It is presumed, however, that since dogs retain the instinct to bury food, this is what is being depicted in the video. In social insects, ants and termites also bury their dead nestmates depending on the properties of the corpse and the social context.
Exhumation
Exhumation, or disinterment, is the act of digging up, especially a corpse. This is most often done to relocate a body to a different burial spot. Families may make this decision to locate the deceased in a more pertinent or convenient place. In shared family burial sites (e.g. a married couple), if the previously deceased person has been buried for an insufficient period of time the second body may be buried elsewhere until it is safe to relocate it to the requested grave. In most jurisdictions a legal exhumation usually requires a court order or permission by the next of kin of the deceased. Also in many countries permits are required by some governing agency to legally conduct a disinterment.
Exhumation of human remains occur for a number of reasons unrelated to the burial location, including identification of the deceased or as part of a criminal investigation. If an individual dies in suspicious circumstances, the police may request exhumation to autopsy, determine the cause of death. Exhumations may also occur as part of grave robbing, or as an act of desecration to show disrespect. In rare, historical cases (e.g. Pope Formosus or Oliver Cromwell), a body may be exhumed for posthumous execution, dissection, or gibbeting. Notable individuals may be exhumed to answer historical questions. Many Ancient Egyptian mummies have been removed for study and public display. Exhumation enables archaeologists
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
to search the remains to better understand human culture.
In folklore and mythology, exhumation has also been frequently associated with the performance of rites to banish undead manifestations. An example is the Mercy Brown Vampire Incident of Rhode Island, which occurred in 1892.
Changing burial location
Remains may be exhumed for reinterment at a more appropriate location for various reasons.
* The passing of time may mean political situations change and a burial can take place in different circumstances. Roger Casement was executed at Pentonville (HM Prison), Pentonville Prison in London on 3 August 1916 and buried in the prison grounds but his body was exhumed and given a List of Irish state funerals, state funeral in Dublin on 1 March 1965.
* Deceased individuals who were either not identified or misidentified at the time of burial may be reburied if survivors so wish. For example, when the remains of missing in action, MIA soldiers are discovered, or the case of Nicholas II of Russia and his family, who were exhumed from unmarked graves near Yekaterinburg to be reinterred in the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, Russia, St. Petersburg.
* Cemeteries sometimes have a limited number of plots in which to bury the dead. Once all plots are full, older remains may be moved to an ossuary to accommodate more bodies, in accordance with burial contracts, Faculty (instrument), religious and local burial laws. In Hong Kong where real estate is at a premium, burials in government-run cemeteries are disinterred after six years under exhumation order. Remains are either collected privately for cremation or reburied in an urn or niche. Unclaimed burials are exhumed and cremated by the government. Permanent burial in privately run cemeteries is allowed.
* Remains may be exhumed and reburied en masse when a cemetery is relocated, once local planning and religious requirements are met. It also enables construction agencies to clear the way for new constructions. One example of this is cemeteries in Chicago next to O'Hare International Airport to expand the runways. The remains of the Venerable or the beatification, Blessed are sometimes exhumed to ensure their bodies lie in their correctly marked graves, as their gravesites usually become places for devotees to gather, and also to collect relics. The bodies may also be transferred to a more dignified place. It also serves the purpose to see if they are supernaturally Incorruptibility, Incorrupt. An incorrupt corpse is no longer considered miraculous, but it is a characteristic of several known saints. Exhumation is no longer a requirement in the beatification process, but still may be carried out.
* For ethical and cultural reasons, repatriation and reburial of human remains may be carried out when museums and academic institutions return remains to their place of origin.
Cultural aspects of exhumation
Frequently, cultures have different sets of exhumation taboos. Occasionally these differences result in conflict, especially in cases where a culture with more lenient exhumation rules wishes to operate on the territory of a different culture. For example, United States construction companies have run into conflict with Native Americans in the United States, Native American groups that have wanted to preserve their burial grounds from disturbance.
In Southern Chinese culture, graves are opened after a period of years. The bones are removed, cleaned, dried, and placed in a ceramic pot for reburial (in Taiwan), or in a smaller coffin and to be reburied in another location (in Vietnam). The practice is called ''jiǎngǔ''(撿骨) in Taiwan, or ''Bốc mộ''(卜墓) in Vietnam "digging up bones" and is an important ritual in the posthumous "care" of children for their deceased parents and ancestors.
Halakha, Jewish law forbids the exhumation of a corpse.
In England and Wales once the top of a coffin has been lowered below ground level in a burial if it is raised again, say for example the grave sides are protruding and need further work, this is considered an exhumation and the Home Office are required to be notified and a full investigation undertaken. Therefore, grave diggers in England and Wales are particularly careful to ensure that grave sites are dug with plenty of room for the coffin to pass.
Reinterment
Reinterment refers to the reburial of a corpse.
Secondary burial
Secondary burial is a burial, cremation, or inhumation that is dug into a pre-existing barrow or grave any time after its initial construction. It is often associated with the belief that there is a Liminality, liminal phase between the time that a person dies and finally decays.
Alternatives to burial
Alternatives to burial variously show respect for the dead, accelerate decomposition and disposal, or prolong display of the remains.
* Burial at sea is the practice of depositing the body or scattering its ashes in an ocean or other large body of water instead of soil. The body may be disposed in a coffin, or without one.
* Funerary cannibalism is the practice of eating the remains. This may be done for many reasons: for example to partake of their strength, to spiritually "close the circle" by reabsorbing their life into the family or clan, to annihilate an enemy, or due to pathological mental conditions. The Yanomami have the practice of cremating the remains and then eating the ashes with banana paste.
* Cremation is the incineration of the remains. This practice is common amongst Hindus and is becoming increasingly common in other cultures as well. If a family member wishes, the ashes can now be turned into a gem, similar to creating synthetic diamonds.
* Whether cryonics constitutes a method of interment, rather than a form of medical treatment, remains under debate. See also information-theoretic death and clinical death.
* Excarnation is the practice of removing the flesh from the corpse without interment. The Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrians have traditionally left their dead on Tower of Silence, Towers of Silence, where the flesh of the corpses is left to be devoured by vultures and other carrion-eating birds. Alternatively, it can also mean butchering the corpse by hand to remove the flesh (also referred to as "defleshing").
* Gibbeting was the semi-ancient practice of publicly displaying remains of criminals.
* Hanging coffins are coffins placed on cliffs, found in various locations, including China and the Philippines.
* Ossuary, Ossuaries were used for interring human skeletal remains by Second Temple Judaism, Second Temple Jews and early Christians.
* Promession is a method of freeze drying human remains before burial to increase the rate of decomposition.
* Resomation accelerates disposal through the process of alkaline hydrolysis.
* Sky burial places the body on a mountaintop, where it decomposes in the elements or is scavenged by carrion eaters, particularly vultures.
Adapting traditions
Burial
As the human population progresses, cultures and traditions change with it. Evolution is generally slow, sometimes more rapid. South Korea's funeral arrangements have drastically changed in the course of only two decades according to Chang-Won Park. Around the 1980s at home funeral ceremonies were the general norm, straying away from anywhere that was not a family home. Dying close to home, with friends and family, was considered a ‘good death’, while dying away from home was considered a ‘bad death’. This gradually changed as the upper and middle class started holding funerals in the mortuaries of hospitals. This posed an issue for hospitals because of the rapid increase in funerals being held and maxing occupancy. This quickly resolved when a law was passed to allow the civilian population holding funerals in the mortuaries of hospitals. The lower class quickly followed suit, copying the newly set traditions of the upper classes. With this change, cremation also practice more as an alternative to traditional burials. Cremation was first introduced by Buddhism, and was quickly banned in 1470. It wasn't until the Japanese colonization period that cremation was re-introduced in 1945 and later on lifted the ban. It took until 1998 for cremation to rapidly grow in popularity.
Funeral ceremonies
According to Margaret Holloway, funerals are believed to be driven by the consumer's choice, personalisation, secularization, and stories that place individual traditional meta-narratives. It has been studied that funeral homes in the United Kingdom are most concerned with comforting the grieving, rather than focusing on the departed. This study found that modern day funerals focus on the psycho-social-spiritual event. Modern day funerals also help the transition of the recently passed transitioning to the social status of 'the deceased'. The article found that funeral homes do not adhere to traditional religious beliefs, but do follow religious traditions.
See also
* Bed burial
* Burial Act 1857 (A United Kingdom law about exhumation)
* Burial mound
* Cremation
* Corpse road
* Funeral
* Green burial
* Health risks from dead bodies
* Museum of Funeral Customs
* State funeral
* Superburial
* Thanatology
* Tower of Silence
* Sky burial
* Premature burial
* Immurement
Notes and references
External links
Video depicting the exhumation of missing German soldiers killed in 1944 from a mass grave
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Burials,
Death customs
Archaeological features
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