Historically, a variety of methods have been used to dispose of human remains. The methods used are developed from a variety of factors, including religious and cultural concerns, sanitary standards, and societal restraints. From the basic purpose of the method chosen arises the technique used to ensure respectful treatment of the body during its preparation and disposal. As any particular method grasps the attention of society and embraces its values, the method becomes popularized and evolves according to changes in the local culture. In the 21st century, an innumerable variety of techniques are used in cultures around the globe to dispose of the deceased according to local and individual values. A few of the methods used in today’s cultures include cremation, earth burial, burial at sea, anatomical gifts, and cannibalism.
Cremation is an ancient method of disposing human remains. Burning bodies to ashes is mentioned in Homer’s Iliad and in Jewish, Hindu, and Buddhist scriptures. The original reasons for cremation in ancient cultures are unknown, but some scholars trace it back to sun worship, fear of the dead, sanitary considerations, or practical matters to carry home fallen warriors (Prothero, 2001). Ancient India believed cremation was a purification process to cleanse the soul and prepare it for rebirth, and many North American Indians had practiced cremation for centuries prior to the arrival of overseas explorers (Prothero, 2001). Famous people cremated in the Roman Empire included Julius Caesar, Antonius, Brutus, Octavius, Augustus, and Tiberius. The rise of Christianity brought the end of the dominance of cremation in Western societies, but became widely accepted again in the late 19th century as medical professionals began declaring earth burials unsanitary and praising cremation for its sanitary properties (Prothero, 2001). The year 1874 marked the beginning of the cremation movement in the United States. A newspaper article printed in 1874 predicted the ability of American businessmen to capitalize on the business of cremation. An excerpt from the article reads, “The undertaker to a man/ Should favor the cremation plan/ Because the more they have to burn/ ‘Tis evident, the more they’ll urn (Prothero, 2001, 193).”
The funeral pyre is the oldest known technique of cremation and is still practiced in Asia and remote parts of the world (Iserson, 2001). Most industrialized nations follow a different technique of cremation. In preparation to cremate a body, the undertaker ensures all environmental hazards have been removed from the body and optional casket, including tooth fillings, diagnostic or therapeutic radioactive isotypes (such as pacemakers), glass, soft metals, alcohol, clothing, jewelry, dental bridges, and prosthesis. The undertaker will then wrap the body in a paper sheet or other combustible material and place the body in a furnace or retort fired by oil, propane, natural gas, or electricity that circulates hot gases. At a temperature of 1,800 to 2,500 degrees Farenheit, a 160 pound body will be reduced to ash in approximately one hour, though the typical cremation will take up to three hours (Prothero, 2001). The skin and hair burn first, muscles contract, the abdomen swells and splits, soft tissues are destroyed, bones become exposed, viscera disappears, and finally the bones glow as the skeleton falls apart. Six to twelve pounds of ash and bone remain, which are crushed by hand or machine into a fine, sand-like powder after all metal pieces are removed with a magnet. The “cremains” are then returned to the family in a temporary container.
The United States lags behind the rest of the industrialized world in terms of the percentage of people who choose cremation. In 1999, 25% of people in the United States were cremated, whereas in Europe the figure was 70%, Japan was 98%, Scandanavia was 65%, and Australia was 50% (Prothero, 2001). Many famous people in the United States have chosen cremation, including the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia, whose ashes were strewn down the Ganges River. Cremation saves land space, money, and time, and has thus continued to gain popularity in the United States.
Earth burial has been practiced for at least 200,000 years. The word “burial” comes from the Anglo-Saxon word “birgan,” which means “to conceal.” The term seems to have risen from a desire to hide the deceased and decaying from the eyes of the living, but the practice has many historical religious considerations as well. The ancient Romans believed the unburied could not enter the Land of the Dead, and the Greeks believed the unburied could not enter the Elysion Fields (Iserson, 2001). Burial was the dominant method of body disposition in Palestine until the 14th century B.C.
The exact methods of burial vary across world cultures. Two common methods, primary and secondary burials, are in common practice. A primary burial occurs when the deceased is buried intact, whereas a secondary burial occurs after the body has been left to wild animals or elements to decompose, and the bones alone are buried (Iserson, 2001). In some countries, graves include only one person. Other countries bury couples together, typically in the position of an embrace. Yet more cultures bury entire families in the same grave, and there are instances of massive burial sites, especially in cases of war as in Nazi Germany concentration camps. Bermuda buries the dead in eight people to a single grave (Iserson, 2001). Bodies have been found in a variety of positions, including standing up, sitting down, and extended flat.
Burial is the most prevalent method of body disposition among Christians, Jews and Muslims (Iserson, 2001). The method also continues to be the dominant method of disposal in the United States. The common viewpoint among cultures that practice earth burial seems to be a belief in resurrection; the body should be protected and ready for the renewal of life in the body, and religious cultures frequently see cremation or other invasive methods as an abomination to the deceased.
Water burial is especially common with seafaring cultures historically and presently, but often with differing reasons for doing so. Norse chiefs and war heroes were honored to have their remains placed on a ship and sent down rivers or into the ocean. In Tibet, the poor people and the lepers were disposed of in streams and rivers because it was a quick and inexpensive means to rid the cities of bodies. Superstitious sailors believed keeping dead bodies aboard the ship would slow travel and attract bad weather; the body had to be thrown overboard to prevent bad luck. If the death had occurred by murder, the murderer was tied to the dead body and thrown overboard together. The 19th century British Navy sewed the deceased into a hammock and filled the bottom with shot to cause it to permanently sink (Quigley, 1996).
Modern burials at sea are typically related to the military. Frequently, ships are not equipped with the means to refrigerate a body until reaching port, or many people died during battle and there is insufficient space to store the bodies (Quigley, 1996). Oftentimes, the active or retired military personnel have such dedication to their work on the sea that they request burial at sea. In these cases, they are placed on a ship that will be in the desired area of burial and the military will perform this service free-of-charge to its veterans.
Civilians who desire a burial at sea are typically able to find the means to do so, provided their desires fit government regulation. In California, cremated remains may be scattered a minimum of three miles from the shoreline, and intact bodies must be three miles from shore in water at least 600 feet deep. Disposal of both cremated remains and intact bodies requires a state-issued permit (Harris, 2007). A recent trend, started by the company Eternal Reefs (www.eternalreefs.com), enables families to add cremated remains to artificial reefs to be dropped into the ocean as a habitat for marine life.
Anatomical gifts present a unique opportunity for people to contribute to science and medicine after their death. In centuries past, opening a dead body was illegal or taboo in most industrialized nations, and anatomists and medical students were required to obtain corpses through questionable methods. Recently, primarily through advances in organ and tissue transplantation, the concept of donating one’s body to the advancement of science has become increasingly accepted (Quigley, 1996).
Condemned men and executed criminals were the original corpses anatomists and medical students had available. Today, any person may donate their body to be used for organ and tissue transplantation or to medical schools to be used for experimentation, research, and student learning. Unclaimed bodies are frequently used for experimentation to solve murders, replicate history, make cars safer, and test cutting-edge military equipment (Quigley 1996).
The number of people who are waiting for transplant organs increases by 20% every year, while the number of anatomical gifts remains steady (Quigley, 1996). Many medical schools have a surplus of cadavers while others have a shortage. Schools with an excess will frequently ship cadavers to schools in need, but the cost is exorbitant and many departments within schools never have enough bodies (Quigley, 1996).
Cannibalism is not a widely publicized method of body disposition, but many countries continue the practice today. While many Americans would consider the practice deviant from “proper” society, for many cultures the practice of cannibalizing the dead represents the ultimate reverence, love, and devotion to the deceased. In Indonesia, dripping fluids from a decaying body are placed over hot rice and eaten by the family. By consuming the death fluids of a family member, the living share in the death of the deceased, and the dead continues to exist in the living (Quigley, 1996). In Venezuelan tribes, the living person indicates which person they prefer to consume their remains upon death (Quigley, 1996). New Guinea tribes practice “Sarco-Cannibalism,” in which the remains of their dead are consumed with extreme dread and is typically followed by a violent fit of vomiting. The New Guinea tribes consider the cannibalism of their dead to be their expression of extreme devotion to the deceased (Perl, 2001).
An incredible number of other methods of disposal methods are practiced worldwide, such as exposure to the elements or wild animals, mummification and preservation, and public display. A modern technological fascination is cryogenic suspension, in which bodies are frozen until such a time that science discovers a cure for what killed the person. Each method embodies a cultural value, which gives insight into the common viewpoint of a society to its deceased. The evolution of a society can be tracked by scholars according to the attitudes of the culture toward their dead as methods change and new techniques become accepted throughout history. Few other aspects of life give such perspective into a society as their treatment of those who have passed on from life.
References
Harris, M. (2007). Grave matters: A journey through the modern funeral industry to a natural way of burial. New York, NY: Scribner.
Iserson, K. V. (2001). Death to dust: What happens to dead bodies?. Tuscon, AZ: Galen Press, Ltd.
Perl, L. (2001). Dying to know.. about death, funeral customs, and final resting places. Brookfield, CT: Twenty-First Century Books.
Prothero, S. (2001). Purified by fire: A history of cremation in America. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Quigley, C. (1996). The corpse: A history. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers.
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