Burial Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Burial, also called interment and (when applied to human burial) inhumation, is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. Usually, this is accomplished by digging a pit or trench, placing the person or object in it, and refilling it with the soil that was dug out of it.Objects are sometimes buried in order to hide them against removal or tampering. For cables and pipeliness, burial provides protection and allows the convenience of walking or driving over them.
People are often buried after they die, for a variety of reasons. The rest of this article discusses human burial.
To maintain hygiene, corpses must not be in open air around the living. Decomposing bodies are laden with bacteria. These bacteria aid in the decomposition process, but many of them are harmful to the living.
Rotting corpses emit unpleasant odors (due to gases released by bacterial decomposition) and look gruesome. Burial prevents the living from having to see and smell the corpses.
Many cultures insist on respect for the dead. This has several facets to it:
In many human cultures throughout history, human corpses were usually buried in soil. Burial grounds have been uncovered all over the world. 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 mark the place is used in almost every culture.
Different cultures bury their dead in different ways. Some of these practices are heavily ritualized; others are simply practical.
Embalming is the practice of preserving a body against decay, and is used in many cultures. Mummification is a form of embalming that is often more extensive, further retarding the decay process.
Bodies are often buried wrapped in a shroud or placed in a coffin (also called a casket). A larger container may be used, such as a ship. Coffins are usually covered by a burial liner or a burial vault, which protects the coffin from collapsing under the weight of the earth.
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. This is a great help to maintaining hygiene.
The body may be dressed in fancy and/or ceremonial clothes. Personal objects, such as a favorite piece of jewelery or photograph, of the deceased may be included with the body. This practice, also known as the inclusion of grave goods, serves several purposes:
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). Other ritual practices place the body in a flexed position with the legs bent or crouched with the legs folded up to the chest. 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 is a sign of disrespect to the deceased, or at least nonchalance on the part of the inhumer.
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.
Some couples or groups of people want to be buried together, for example, a husband and wife. Since (in many cases) people die at different times, the exhumation of the first to die is often necessary. In other cases, the bodies may simply be buried side by side.
Mass burial is the practice of burying dozens, hundreds, or thousands of individuals in one massive pit, much like a landfill for human remains. Most cultures view mass burial as a way of objectifying corpses, and is often viewed as a form of gross disrespect to the individuals being buried. Civilizations attempting genocide often employ mass burial for the people they kill in the genocide, as it coincides neatly with their goals of dehumanizing and destroying a segment of the population.
However, in some cases, mass burial is the only practical means of dealing with a number of corpses sufficient to overwhelm local resources, as in a disaster.
In cases of mass burial, it is commonly of importance to survivors to later have the bodies exhumed, identified, and buried properly.
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 climates) exposure. People may come to be buried alive in a number of different ways:
In addition to burying human remains, many human cultures also regularly bury animal remains. This is often necessary for hygienic reasons when the body cannot be disposed of in another way.
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.
Humans are not the only species to bury their dead. Chimpanzees are known to throw branches over fallen members of their family groups.
The digging up of a buried body is called exhumation, and is considered sacrilege by most cultures that bury their dead. However, there is often a number of circumstances in which exhumation is tolerated:
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 occured in 1892.
Not all cultures bury their dead, and many of those that do bury their dead do not do so in all cases. Alternatives include:
This is an Article on Burial. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Burial Reasons for human burial
Burial practices
Prevention of decay
Inclusion of clothing and personal effects
Body positioning
Marking the location of the burial
Multiple bodies per grave
Live burial
Burial of animals
By humans
By other animals
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 stricter culture. For example, United States construction companies have run into conflict with Native American groups that wanted to preserve their ancient burial grounds from any form of modern construction.Alternatives to burial
In most cases, these alternatives still maintain respect for the dead. In fact, some of the more elaborate alternatives are employed by some cultures to show increased respect for the deceased. Gibbeting is a notable exception, showing a complete lack of respect.See also
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