Burial
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Burial or interment is the ritual act of placing a dead
person or animal, and/or objects into the ground. This is accomplished by
excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased or the object(s) in it, and
covering it over.
History
Intentional burial, particularly
with grave goods, may be one of the earliest detectable forms of religious
practice since, as Philip Lieberman
suggests, it may signify a "concern for the dead that transcends daily
life."[1]
Though disputed, evidence suggests that the Neanderthals
were the first human species
to intentionally bury the dead, doing so in shallow graves along with stone
tools and animal bones.[2]
Exemplary sites include Shanidar in Iraq, Kebara Cave
in Israel and Krapina in Croatia. Some scholars, however argue that these bodies
may have been disposed of for secular reasons.[3]
The earliest undisputed human burial,
discovered so far, dates back 100,000 years. Human skeletal remains stained
with red ochre
were discovered in the Skhul cave at Qafzeh, 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.[4]
Prehistoric cemeteries
are referred to by the more neutral term grave field.
They are one of the chief sources of information on prehistoric cultures, and
numerous archaeological cultures are defined by their burial customs, such as the Urnfield culture
of the European Bronze Age.
Reasons
for human burial
After death, a body will decay.
Burial is not necessarily a public health
requirement. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the WHO advises that only corpses carrying an infectious disease strictly require burial.[5][6]
Human burial practices are the
manifestation of the human desire to demonstrate "respect for the
dead", and to prevent the possibilities of revenants [ghosts] harming the living. Cultures vary in their mode of
respect.
Among the reasons for this are:
- 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 burials
return the remains to the cycle of life and acknowledge the body as
"food," a core tenet of some Buddhist practices.
- 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.
Burial is sometimes believed to be a necessary step for an individual to
reach the afterlife.
- Many religions
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 cultures, human corpses were
usually buried in soil. The roots of burial as a practice reach back into the
Middle Palaeolithic and coincides with the appearance of Homo Sapiens Neanderthalensis and Homo Sapiens,
in Europe and Africa respectively. As a result, burial grounds are found
throughout the world. Through time, Mounds of earth,
temples, and
underground caverns were used to store the dead bodies of ancestors.
In modern times, the custom of
burying dead people below ground, with a stone marker
to indicate the burial place, is used in most cultures,
although, other means, such as cremation,
are becoming more popular in the West (cremation is the norm in India and mandatory
in Japan[citation
needed]).
Natural
burial
Natural burial -- also called "green burial"[7]
-- is the process by which a body is returned to the earth to decompose
naturally in soil. Natural burial became popularized in the United Kingdom in
the early 1990s by Ken West, a professional cremeterian for the City of
Carlisle responding to the U.K's call for changes in government that aligned
with the United Nations' Environmental Program Local Agenda 21.
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, Ireland, and the United States.[8]
Prevention
of decay
Embalming is the practice of preserving a body against decay, and is
used in many cultures. Mummification is a more extensive method of embalming, further delaying
the decay process.
Bodies are often buried wrapped in a
shroud or placed
in a coffin (or in
some cases, a casket). A larger container may be used, such as a ship. In the
United States, coffins are usually covered by a grave liner
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 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 or some other natural process, 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,
serves several purposes:
- In funeral 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 shrouds,
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 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)
should go with them out of loyalty or ownership.
- Though not generally a motivation for the inclusion of
grave goods with a corpse, it is worth considering that future archaeologists
may find the remains (compare time capsule).
Artifacts such as clothing and objects provide insight into how
the individual lived. This provides a form of immortality
for the deceased.
Body
positioning
Burials may be placed in a number of
different positions. Christian burials are made extended, i.e., lying flat with
arms and legs straight, or with the arms folded upon the chest, and with the eyes and 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. Other ritual 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 head is pointed toward and the face is turned toward Mecca, the holiest city in Islam. 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
Historically, Christian burials were
made supine east-west, with the head at the western end of the grave.
This mirrors the layout of Christian churches, and for
much the same reason; to view the coming of Christ on Judgment day
(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 Islam, the grave should be
aligned perpendicular to the Qibla (i.e. Mecca). (see Islamic funeral)
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)
to inhibit the activities of the resulting undead.
They bury their dead with their
heads directly downward, because they hold an opinion, that in eleven thousand
moons they are all to rise again; in which period the earth (which they
conceive to be flat) will turn upside down, and by this means they shall, at
their resurrection, be found ready standing on their feet. The learned among
them confess the absurdity of this doctrine; but the practice still continues,
in compliance to the vulgar.
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 Major Peter Labilliere of Dorking (d. June
4, 1800) lies thus upon the summit of Box Hill.[9][10]
Similar stories have attached themselves to other noted eccentrics,
particularly in southern England, but not always with a foundation in truth.[11]
Burial
among African-American slaves
In the 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). This orientation permits 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 in the Eastern sunrise.
Burial
in the Bahá'í Faith
Bahá'í 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[12]
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.[13]
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 "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; see examples
on Heraldica.org.
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.
This serves two purposes. First, the 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, 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" parallelling the community of the living.
Unmarked
grave
In many cultures graves are marked with durable markers, or monuments,
intended to help remind people of the buried person. An unmarked grave
is a grave with no such memorial marker.
The corpse of Pope Formosus
was actually disinterred, placed on trial (see Cadaver Synod),
found guilty, and ultimately thrown into the River Tiber.
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's
Tomb of the Unknown Warrior is in Westminster Abbey,
France's is
buried underneath the Arc de Triomphe,
Italy's is
buried in the Monumento al Milite Ignoto
in Rome, Canada's is buried at the National
War Memorial in Ottawa, Australia's
Tomb of
the Unknown Soldier is located at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, New Zealand's Tomb
of the Unknown Warrior is in Wellington,
Tomb
of the Unknown Soldier (Moscow)
in Russia in Alexander Garden
and the United States' Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is located at Arlington
National Cemetery.
Many cultures practise anonymous
burial as a norm, not an exception. For instance, in parts of eastern Germany,
up to 43% of burials are anonymous.[14]
According to Christian Century magazine, the perspective of the Roman Catholic Church is
that anonymous burials reflect a dwindling belief in God, but others claim that
the practice relates more to the exorbitant cost of grave markers and the
solitary nature of German life.[15]
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 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 cremated his ashes
were buried in a secret location in 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 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. 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 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 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,
"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
the body of the deceased is burned in a special oven. Most of the body is 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 close to the heart
of the deceased or keeping the ashes at home. Ashes can also be buried
underground or in a columbarium niche.
Live
burial
Live burial sometimes occurs, in
which individuals are buried while still alive. Having no way of escaping
interment, they die in place, typically by asphyxiation,
dehydration,
starvation,
or (in cold or hot climates) exposure. People
may come to be buried alive in a number of different ways:
- Intentional:
buried alive as a method of 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.[citation
needed]
- Accidental:
A person or group of people in a cave, mine, or other underground area may
be sealed underground due to an earthquake,
cave in,
or other natural disaster or accident.
Live burial may also occur due to avalanches
on mountain slopes.
- Inadvertent:
People have been unintentionally buried alive because they were pronounced
dead
by a coroner
or other official, when they were in fact still alive.
Writer 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 this event, including burying live telephones or telemetry
sensors in graves.
Burial
at cross-roads
Historically, burial at cross-roads was the method of disposing of executed criminals and persons who have committed suicide.
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 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, in
order to assimilate as far as possible their funeral to that of the pagans.[citation
needed] An example of a cross-road execution-ground was the famous 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 cross-roads 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 cross-roads would inhibit their ability to find and wreak havoc
on their living relations and former associates.
Burial
of animals
By
humans
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. The ancient Egyptians
are known to have mummified and buried cats, which they considered deities.
By
other animals
Humans are not always the only
species to bury their dead. 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 mother and
child buried its victim under a pile of leaves before disappearing into the
bushes.[16]
Exhumation
Exhumation of human remains might
occur for a number of reasons, such as during a criminal investigation or
moving a burial ground. Or an exhumation might be done illicitly by grave
robbers or as an act of desecration to show disrespect. 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 like the board of health in order to legally conduct a
disinterment. Some examples include:
- If an individual dies in suspicious circumstances, the police
may request exhumation in order to determine the cause of death.
- Deceased individuals who were either not identified or
misidentified at the time of burial may be reburied if survivors so wish.[17]
- 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 to be taken home by the rest
of the family (in Vietnam). The practice is called jiǎngǔ in
Taiwan, or boc mo in Vietnam '揀骨 “digging up bones” and is an important ritual in the
posthumous “care” of children for their deceased parents and ancestors.
Failure to carry out this ritual is considered a failure of filial piety.
- Similarly 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.[18]
Permanent burial in privately run cemeteries is allowed.
- Remains may be exhumed in order to be reinterred at a
more appropriate location. For example, when the remains of 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.
- The passing of time may mean political situations
change and a burial can take place in different circumstances. Roger Casement
was executed at Pentonville
Prison in London on 3 August 1916 and
buried in the prison grounds but his body was exhumed given a state
funeral in Dublin on 1 March 1965.[19]
- The remains of the Venerable
or the 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 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.
- Remains may be exhumed and reburied en masse when a
cemetery is relocated, once local planning and religious requirements are
met.[20]
- 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.
- In the UK once the top of a coffin has been lowered
below ground level in a burial if it 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 the UK are particularly careful to ensure that grave sites
are dug with plenty of room for the coffin to pass.[21]
Once human remains reach a certain
age, some cultures consider exhumation acceptable, especially if this is
followed by later reburial following traditional burial rites.
This serves several purposes:
- 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, religious and local burial laws.
- It enables archaeologists
to search the remains to better understand human culture.
- It 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.
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
American groups that have wanted to preserve
their burial grounds from disturbance.
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.
Reinterment
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 liminal phase between the time that a person dies and finally
decays.[24]
Alternatives
to burial
In most cases these alternatives
still intend to maintain respect for the dead, but some intend to prolong the
display of the remains.
- Burial at sea
is the practice of depositing the body in an ocean
or other large body of water instead of soil. It may be disposed in a
coffin, or without one. Because of the particular logistics of scattering
ashes at sea, there are commercial services that do so for a fee.
- Funerary cannibalism
is the practice of eating the remains. This may be 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 habit 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.
- Cryonics
there is debate if cryonics is a medical treatment or a method of
internment. See also information
theoretical death; clinical death.
- Ecological funeral is a method of increasing the rate of decomposition
in order to help fertilize the soil.
- Excarnation
is the practice of removing the flesh from the corpse without interment.
The Zoroastrians have traditionally left their dead on 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 (sometimes referred to by the
neologism "defleshing").
- Gibbeting
was the ancient practice of publicly displaying remains of criminals.
- Hanging coffins
are coffins which have been placed on cliffs. They can be found in various
locations, including China and the Philippines.
- The Use of an Ossuary
for human skeletal remains among second temple Jews & early
Christians.
- Resomation
involves disposal through an accelerated process of alkaline hydrolysis.
- Sky burial involves placing the body on a mountaintop.
The entire wiki link with images and
references is found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burial
No comments:
Post a Comment