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87-420: Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning . Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial . In some countries, including India , Nepal , and Syria , cremation on an open-air pyre is an ancient tradition. Starting in the 19th century, cremation was introduced or reintroduced into other parts of the world. In modern times, cremation

174-459: A graveyard is one common form of tomb. In some places, burials are impractical because the groundwater is too high; therefore tombs are placed above ground, as is the case in New Orleans, Louisiana , US. Elsewhere, a separate building for a tomb is usually reserved for the socially prominent and wealthy; grand, above-ground tombs are called mausoleums . The socially prominent sometimes had

261-553: A life insurance policy to collect on the policy. Criminal methods encountered in fiction and actual cases include: Cremation is the traditional manner of Hindu final deposition which takes place during Antyesti rites, however, some circumstances do not allow for cremation so instead "Jal Pravah" is practiced – the release of the body into a river. Situations that call for Jal Pravah are unwed girls, death from infectious disease, death from snakebite, children under age 5, holy men, pregnant women, people who have committed suicide, and

348-459: A tumulus , similar to Urnfield burials, and qualifying as the earliest description of cremation rites. This may be an anachronism, as during Mycenaean times burial was generally preferred, and Homer may have been reflecting the more common use of cremation at the time the Iliad was written, centuries later. Criticism of burial rites is a common aspersion by competing religions and cultures, including

435-494: A body is disposed of in such a way as to prevent, hinder, or delay discovery of the body, to prevent identification of the body, or to prevent autopsy . In such cases, the deceased is considered a missing person as long as a body is not identified, unless death is so likely that the person is declared legally dead . This often occurs as part of a murder or voluntary manslaughter . In other cases, an individual who did not intend to cause death may fear repercussions regarding

522-416: A coffin or a combustible container. This allows the body to be quickly and safely slid into the cremator. It also reduces health risks to the operators. The coffin or container is inserted (charged) into the cremator as quickly as possible to avoid heat loss. Some crematoria allow relatives to view the charging. This is sometimes done for religious reasons, such as in traditional Hindu and Jain funerals, and

609-525: A cremator, which is located at a crematorium or crematory . In many countries, the crematorium is a venue for funerals as well as cremation. A cremator is an industrial furnace that is able to generate temperatures of 871–982 °C (1,600–1,800 °F) to ensure the disintegration of the corpse. Modern cremator fuels include oil , natural gas , propane , and, in Hong Kong, coal gas . Modern cremators automatically monitor their interior to tell when

696-435: A death (e.g. by involuntary manslaughter or an accident ) and may attempt to prevent discovery of the body. This can exacerbate any legal consequences associated with the death. Other motives for concealing death or the cause of death include insurance fraud or the desire to collect the pension of the deceased. An individual may commit suicide in such a way as to obscure the cause of death, allowing beneficiaries of

783-544: A half the bodies are completely burned. This corresponds to a daily capacity of about 2,000 bodies... Crematoria III and IV work on nearly the same principle, but their capacity is only half as large. Thus the total capacity of the four cremating and gassing plants at B IRKENAU amounts to about 6,000 daily. The Holocaust furnaces were supplied by a number of manufacturers, with the best known and most common being Topf and Sons as well as Kori Company of Berlin, whose ovens were elongated to accommodate two bodies, slid inside from

870-572: A long debate about the merits and demerits of cremation. Laws against cremation were challenged and invalidated in 1915 (two years after the construction of the first crematorium in the Netherlands), though cremation did not become legally recognised until 1955. During World War II (1939–45), Nazi Germany used specially built furnaces in at least six extermination camps throughout occupied Poland including at Auschwitz-Birkenau , Chełmno , Belzec , Majdanek , Sobibor and Treblinka , where

957-439: A plain, particle-board coffin (known in the trade as a "chippie", "shipper" or "pyro") can be used. Handles (if fitted) are plastic and approved for use in a cremator. Cremations can be "delivery only", with no preceding chapel service at the crematorium (although a church service may have been held) or preceded by a service in one of the crematorium chapels. Delivery-only allows crematoria to schedule cremations to make best use of

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1044-469: A recurring pada "what God shall we adore with our oblation?", in verse 1 named Hiranyagarbha "the golden egg" or Cosmic egg , later a name of Brahma , in verse 10 addressed as Prajapati . 10.129 (the Nasadiya Sukta ) and 130 are creation hymns, probably the best known Rigvedic hymns in the west, especially 10.129.7: These hymns exhibit a level of philosophical speculation very atypical of

1131-410: A thick watertight polyethylene plastic bag contained within a hard snap-top rectangular plastic container , which is labeled with a printed paper label. The basic sealed plastic container bag may be contained within a further cardboard box or velvet sack, or they may be contained within an urn if the family had already purchased one. An official certificate of cremation prepared under the authority of

1218-608: A type of tomb , or the tomb may be considered to be within the mausoleum. One of the most famous immurements sites is the Taj Mahal located in Agra, India. The Taj Mahal was built by Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife, Empress Mumtaz Mahal. Both of their bodies were buried in this building. Sky burial allows dead bodies to be eaten by vultures on open grounds or on top of specially built tall towers away from human sight. Sky burials can be followed by optional automatic cremations of

1305-613: A well-known figure in literary and scientific circles. By the end of the year, the Cremation Society of Great Britain had overseen 2 more cremations, a total of 3 out of 597,357 deaths in the UK that year. In 1888, 28 cremations took place at the venue. In 1891, Woking Crematorium added a chapel, pioneering the concept of a crematorium being a venue for funerals as well as cremation. Other early crematoria in Europe were built in 1878 in

1392-425: Is allowed, in some cases expressly limiting burials to property controlled by specific, licensed institutions. Furthermore, in many places, failure to properly dispose of a body is a crime. In some places, it is also a crime to fail to report a death, and to fail to report the disposal of the body. Certain conditions such as necrosis can cause parts of the body such as limbs or internal organs to die without causing

1479-522: Is also customary in Japan . In the United States federal law does not dictate any container requirements for cremation. Certain states require an opaque or non-transparent container for all cremations. This can be a simple corrugated cardboard box or a wooden casket ( coffin ). Another option is a cardboard box that fits inside a wooden shell, which is designed to look like a traditional casket. After

1566-518: Is commonly carried out with a closed furnace (cremator) , at a crematorium. Cremation leaves behind an average of 2.4 kg (5.3 lb) of remains known as ashes or cremains . This is not all ash but includes unburnt fragments of bone mineral, which are commonly ground into powder. They are inorganic and inert, and thus do not constitute a health risk and may be buried, interred in a memorial site, retained by relatives or scattered in various ways. Cremation dates from at least 17,000 years ago in

1653-455: Is generally stored at a morgue . Where this is not possible, such as on a battlefield, body bags are used. In the Western world , embalming of the body is a standard part of preparation. This is intended to temporarily preserve the corpse throughout the funeral process. Mummification is the drying bodies and removing of organs. The most famous practitioners were ancient Egyptians . In

1740-586: Is no antidote against the Opium of time...". Honoretta Brooks Pratt became the first recorded cremated European individual in modern times when she died on 26 September 1769 and was illegally cremated at the burial ground on Hanover Square in London . In Europe, a movement to reintroduce cremation as a viable method for body disposal began in the 1870s. This was made possible by the invention of new furnace technology and contact with eastern cultures that practiced it. At

1827-475: Is regulated by the NAGPRA Act of 1990 . Different religions and cultures have various funeral rites that accompany the disposal of a body. Some require that all parts of the body are buried together. If an autopsy has occurred, removed parts of the body are sewn back into the body so that they may be buried with the rest of the corpse. When it is not possible for a body to be disposed of promptly, it

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1914-431: Is sealed, for this reason. When cremation is finished, the remains are passed through a magnetic field to remove any metal, which will be interred elsewhere in the crematorium grounds or, increasingly, recycled. The ashes are entered into a cremulator to further grind the remains down into a finer texture before being given to relatives or loved ones or scattered in the crematorium grounds where facilities exist. In Germany,

2001-614: Is that "cremains" is thought to have less connection with the deceased, whereas a loved one's "cremated remains" has a more identifiable human connection.) After final grinding, the ashes are placed in a container, which can be anything from a simple cardboard box to a decorative urn . The default container used by most crematoria, when nothing more expensive has been selected, is usually a hinged, snap-locking plastic box. Cremated remains are mostly dry calcium phosphates with some minor minerals, such as salts of sodium and potassium. Sulfur and most carbon are driven off as oxidized gases during

2088-656: Is the center of this practice where massive religious sites along the Ganges, like Manikarnika Ghat , are dedicated to this purpose. Mandala 10 The subjects of the hymns cover a wider spectrum than in the other books, dedicated not only to deities or natural phenomena, including deities that are not prominent enough to receive their own hymns in the other books ( Nirrti 10.59, Asamati 10.60, Ratri 10.127, Aranyani 10.146, Indrani 10.159), but also to objects like dice (10.34), herbs (10.97), press-stones (for Soma , 10.94, 175) and abstract concepts like liberality (towards

2175-672: Is unrecognizable as human remains. It is performed by placing the body in a mix of wood chips, allowing thermophile microbes to decompose the body. In the United States , human composting has been legalized in six states: Washington , Colorado , Vermont (from 1 January 2023), Oregon , California (in 2027), and New York . The first such composting facility, based Kent, Washington , accepted bodies in December 2020. It developed from an earlier composting idea, formulated by architect Katrina Spade of Seattle, Washington, as

2262-444: Is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objects in it, and covering it over. Humans have been burying their dead for over 100,000 years. Burial practices and rites varied from culture to culture in the past and still vary to this day. 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

2349-426: Is usually simply an insulation material, e.g. , mineral wool . Inside is typically a layer of insulation brick, mostly calcium silicate in nature. Heavy duty cremators are usually designed with two layers of fire bricks inside the insulation layer. The layer of fire bricks in contact with the combustion process protects the outer layer and must be replaced from time to time. The body is generally required to be inside

2436-738: The Cremation Society of Great Britain in 1874." They founded the United Kingdom's first crematorium in Woking , with Gorini travelling to England to assist the installation of a cremator. They first tested it on 17 March 1879 with the body of a horse. After protests and an intervention by the Home Secretary , Sir Richard Cross , their plans were put on hold. In 1884, the Welsh Neo-Druidic priest William Price

2523-596: The Book of Common Prayer to cover it. In today's parlance, "burial at sea" may also refer to the scattering of ashes in the ocean, while "whole body burial at sea" refers to the entire uncremated body being placed in the ocean at great depths. Laws vary by jurisdictions. The concept may also include ship burial , a form of burial at sea in which the corpse is set adrift on a boat. The process of composting human corpses, also called natural organic reduction (NOR) or terramation, turns organic matter into soil conditioner that

2610-561: The Urban Death Project . The New York State Catholic Conference opposes this procedure and laws that legalize it. Dissolution involves the breaking down of the body by solvation , e.g. in acid or a solution of lye , followed by disposal as liquid . A specific method is alkaline hydrolysis (also called Resomation). Advocates claim the process is more environmentally friendly than both cremation and burial, due to CO 2 emissions and embalming fluids respectively. On

2697-816: The West Terrace Cemetery in the South Australian capital of Adelaide in 1901. This small building, resembling the buildings at Woking , remained largely unchanged from its 19th-century style and was in full operation until the late 1950s. The oldest operating crematorium in Australia is at Rookwood Cemetery , in Sydney . It opened in 1925. In the Netherlands, the foundation of the Association for Optional Cremation in 1874 ushered in

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2784-582: The decomposition of their loved ones. Cremation is also an old custom; it was the usual mode of disposing of a corpse in ancient Rome (along with graves covered with heaped mounds, also found in Greece, particularly at the Karameikos graveyard in Monastiraki ). Vikings were occasionally cremated in their longships , and afterwards the location of the site was marked with standing stones . Since

2871-458: The rishi , 10.117), creation (10.129 (the Nasadiya Sukta ), 130, 190), knowledge (10.71), speech , spirit (10.58), faith (10.151), a charm against evil dreams (10.164). 10.15, dedicated to the forefathers, contains a reference to the emerging rite of cremation in verse 14, where ancestors "both cremated ( agnidagdhá- ) and uncremated ( ánagnidagdha- )" are invoked. 10.47 to 50 are to Indra Vaikuntha, "Indra son of Vikuntha". Vikuntha

2958-409: The skeleton will remain intact for thousands of years under certain conditions. Several methods for disposal are practiced. A funeral is a ceremony that may accompany the final disposition. Regardless, the manner of disposal is often dominated by spirituality with a desire to hold vigil for the dead and may be highly ritualized. In cases of mass death, such as war and natural disaster, or in which

3045-449: The sky burial and a similar method of disposal called Tower of Silence practiced by Tibetan Buddhists , some Mongolians , and Zoroastrians . A modern method of quasi-final disposition, though still rare, is cryonics ; this being putatively near-final, though nowhere close to demonstrated. Some cultures place the dead in tombs of various sorts, either individually, or in specially designated tracts of land that house tombs. Burial in

3132-623: The 1850s. His furnace operated at a high temperature by using regenerative preheating of fuel and air for combustion . In regenerative preheating, the exhaust gases from the furnace are pumped into a chamber containing bricks, where heat is transferred from the gases to the bricks. The flow of the furnace is then reversed so that fuel and air pass through the chamber and are heated by the bricks. Through this method, an open-hearth furnace can reach temperatures high enough to melt steel, and this process made cremation an efficient and practical proposal. Charles's nephew, Carl Friedrich von Siemens perfected

3219-530: The Cremulator used. The mean weight of an adult's remains is 2.4 kg (5.3 lb); the mean weight for adult males is about 1 kg (2.2 lb) higher than that for adult females. There are various types of Cremulators, including rotating devices, grinders, and older models using heavy metal balls. The grinding process typically takes about 20 seconds. In most Asian countries, the bones are not pulverised, unless requested beforehand. When not pulverised,

3306-510: The Egyptian practices, bodies are embalmed using resins and organs are removed and placed in jars. Bodies are then wrapped in bandages and placed in tombs, along with the jars of organs. Many nobles and highly ranked bureaucrats had their corpses embalmed and stored in luxurious sarcophagi inside their funeral mausoleums. Pharaohs stored their embalmed corpses in pyramids or the Valley of

3393-652: The Kings . However, the Chinchorro mummies of Chile are to date the oldest mummies on Earth. The Chinchorro mummification process included the Black Mummy technique, as well as the Red Mummy technique. Many jurisdictions have enacted regulations relating to the disposal of human bodies. Although it may be entirely legal to bury a deceased family member, the law may restrict the locations in which this activity

3480-608: The Rigveda, which for the most part is occupied with ritualistic invocation. 10.145 is attributed to Indrani . It is a spell for a jealous wife to get rid of more favoured rival. Atypical of the Rigveda, similar spells are found in the Atharvaveda . 10.154 is a funeral hymn, asking for that the departed may join those who attained heaven through tapas . Padas 1 cd is reminiscent of the Norse concept of Valhalla : 10.155

3567-496: The United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Starting in the 1960s, cremation has become more common than burial in several countries where the latter is traditional. This has included the United Kingdom (1968), Czechoslovakia (1980), Canada (early 2000s), the United States (2016) and Finland (2017). Factors cited include cheaper costs (especially a factor after the 2008 recession ), growth in secular attitudes and declining opposition in some Christian denominations. The cremation occurs in

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3654-815: The Western World opened in Milan in 1876. Milan's "Crematorium Temple" was built in the Monumental Cemetery . The building still stands but ceased to be operational in 1992. Sir Henry Thompson, 1st Baronet , a surgeon and Physician to the Queen Victoria , had seen Gorini's cremator at the Vienna Exhibition and had returned home to become the first and chief promoter of cremation in England. His main reason for supporting cremation

3741-756: The archaeological record, with the Mungo Lady , the remains of a partly cremated body found at Lake Mungo , Australia. Alternative death rituals which emphasize one method of disposal – burial , cremation, or exposure – have gone through periods of preference throughout history. In the Middle East and Europe, both burial and cremation are evident in the archaeological record in the Neolithic era. Cultural groups had their own preferences and prohibitions. The ancient Egyptians developed an intricate transmigration-of-soul theology, which prohibited cremation. This

3828-635: The association of cremation with fire sacrifice or human sacrifice . Hinduism and Jainism are notable for not only allowing but prescribing cremation. Cremation in India is first attested in the Cemetery H culture (from c. 1900 BCE), considered the last phase of Indus Valley Civilisation and beginning of the Vedic civilization . The Rigveda contains a reference to the emerging practice, in RV 10 .15.14, where

3915-549: The back side. The ashes were taken out from the front side. In the 20th century, cremation gained varying degrees of acceptance in most Christian denominations. William Temple , the most senior bishop in the Church of England , was cremated after his death in office in 1944. The Roman Catholic Church accepted the practice more slowly. In 1963, at the Second Vatican Council Pope Paul VI lifted

4002-417: The ban on cremation, and in 1966 allowed Catholic priests to officiate at cremation ceremonies. This is done on the condition that the ashes must be buried or interred, not scattered. Many countries where burial is traditional saw cremation rise to become a significant, if not the most common way of disposing of a dead body. In the 1960s and 1970s, there was an unprecedented phase of crematorium construction in

4089-453: The birds". The Zoroastrians in Mumbai and Karachi placed bodies on " Towers of Silence ", where birds then could decompose the bodies. Sky burials can provide benefits to the environment, since it does not produce air pollution and the decomposition of the body occurs fairly quickly, when compared to other forms of disposal practices. Exposures, which can be a form of sky burial, are where

4176-457: The bodies of those murdered by gassing were disposed of using incineration. The efficiency of industrialised killing of Operation Reinhard during the most deadly phase of the Holocaust produced too many corpses, therefore the crematoria manufactured to SS specifications were put into use in all of them to handle the disposals around the clock, day and night. The Vrba–Wetzler report offers

4263-429: The bones are collected by the family and stored as one might do with ashes. The appearance of cremated remains after grinding is one of the reasons they are called ashes , although a non-technical term sometimes used is "cremains", a portmanteau of "cremated" and "remains". (The Cremation Association of North America prefers that the word "cremains" not be used for referring to "human cremated remains". The reason given

4350-405: The coffin once it has arrived at the crematorium, and rules stipulate that it must be cremated within 72 hours of the funeral service. Therefore, in the United Kingdom, bodies are cremated in the same coffin that they are placed in at the undertaker's, although the regulations allow the use of an approved "cover" during the funeral service. It is recommended that jewellery be removed before the coffin

4437-425: The corpse is stripped of its flesh, leaving only the bones. The bones can then either be cremated or buried whole, as stated above. " Burial at sea " in past generations has meant the deliberate disposal of a corpse into the ocean, wrapped and tied with weights to make sure it sinks. It has been a common practice in navies and seafaring nations; in the Church of England , special forms of funeral service were added to

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4524-406: The cremation process is complete and have a spyhole so that an operator can see inside. The time required for cremation varies from body to body, with the average being 90 minutes for an adult body. The chamber where the body is placed is called a cremation chamber or retort and is lined with heat-resistant refractory bricks. Refractory bricks are designed in several layers. The outermost layer

4611-451: The crematorium accompanies the remains, and if required by law, the permit for disposition of human remains, which must remain with the cremated remains. Disposal of human corpses Disposal of human corpses , also called final disposition , is the practice and process of dealing with the remains of a deceased human being . Disposal methods may need to account for the fact that soft tissue will decompose relatively rapidly, while

4698-444: The cremators, perhaps by holding the body overnight in a refrigerator, allowing a lower fee to be charged. The box containing the body is placed in the retort and incinerated at a temperature of 760 to 1,150 °C (1,400 to 2,100 °F). During the cremation process, the greater portion of the body (especially the organs and other soft tissues) is vaporized and oxidized by the intense heat; gases released are discharged through

4785-442: The death of the individual. In such cases the body parts are usually not given a funeral. Surgical removal of dead tissue is usually necessary to prevent gangrenous infection . Surgically removed body parts are typically disposed of as medical waste , unless they need to be preserved for cultural reasons, as described above. Conversely, donated organs or tissue may live on long after the death of an individual. In some cases,

4872-437: The exhaust system. Jewelry, such as necklaces, wrist-watches and rings, are ordinarily removed before cremation, and returned to the family. Several implanted devices are required to be removed. Pacemakers and other medical devices can cause large, dangerous explosions. Contrary to popular belief, the cremated remains are not ashes in the usual sense. After the incineration is completed, the dry bone fragments are swept out of

4959-457: The following description. At present there are four crematoria in operation at B IRKENAU , two large ones, I and II, and two smaller ones, III and IV. Those of type I and II consist of 3 parts, i.e.,: (A) the furnace room; (B) the large halls; and (C) the gas chamber. A huge chimney rises from the furnace room around which are grouped nine furnaces, each having four openings. Each opening can take three normal corpses at once and after an hour and

5046-452: The forefathers "both cremated ( agnidagdhá- ) and uncremated ( ánagnidagdha- )" are invoked. Cremation remained common but not universal, in both ancient Greece and ancient Rome. According to Cicero, burial was considered the more archaic rite in Rome. The rise of Christianity saw an end to cremation in Europe, though it may have already been in decline. In early Roman Britain , cremation

5133-407: The funeral service, the box is removed from the shell before cremation, permitting the shell to be re-used. In the United Kingdom, the body is not removed from the coffin and is not placed into a container as described above. The body is cremated with the coffin which is why all British coffins that are to be used for cremation must be combustible. The Code of Cremation Practice forbids the opening of

5220-746: The latter part of the twentieth century, despite the objections of some religious groups, cremation has become increasingly popular. Jewish law ( Halakha ) forbids cremation, believing that the soul of a cremated person will be unable to find its final repose. The Roman Catholic Church forbade it for many years, but since 1963 the church has allowed it, as long as it is not done to express disbelief in bodily resurrection . The church specifies that cremated remains be either buried or entombed; they do not allow cremated remains to be scattered or kept at home. Many Catholic cemeteries now have columbarium niches for cremated remains, or specific sections for those remains. Some denominations of Protestantism allow cremation;

5307-586: The means of disposal are limited, practical concerns may be of greater priority. Ancient methods of disposing of dead bodies include cremation practiced by the Romans , Greeks , Hindus , and some Mayans ; burial practiced by the Chinese , Japanese , Bali , Jews , Christians , and Muslims , as well as some Mayans; mummification , a type of embalming , practiced by the Ancient Egyptians ; and

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5394-498: The more conservative denominations generally do not. The Eastern Orthodox Church and Islam also forbid cremation. Among Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some sects of Buddhists such as those found in Japan, cremation is common. Immurement of corpses is the permanent storage in an above-ground tomb or mausoleum . A tomb is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. A mausoleum may be considered

5481-461: The only burial practice, both combustion and inhumation had been practiced, depending on the era and location. In Rome's earliest history, both inhumation and cremation were in common use among all classes. Around the mid-Republic, inhumation was almost exclusively replaced by cremation, with some notable exceptions, and remained the most common funerary practice until the middle of the Empire, when it

5568-440: The other hand, many find the idea of being "poured down the drain" to be undignified. In some cases an attempt is made to preserve some or all of a body. These methods include: Human remains of archaeological or medical interest are often kept in museums and private collections. This practice is controversial (See NAGPRA ). In the cases of Native Americans in the United States , possession of remains and related objects

5655-403: The privilege of having their corpses stored in church crypts. In more recent times, however, this has often been forbidden by hygiene laws. Burial was not always permanent. In some areas, burial grounds needed to be reused due to limited space. In these areas, once the dead have decomposed to skeletons, the bones are removed; after their removal they can be placed in an ossuary . A ground burial

5742-437: The process is mostly similar to that of the United Kingdom. The body is cremated in the coffin. A piece of fire clay with a number on it is used for identifying the remains of the dead body after burning. The remains are then placed in a container called an ash capsule , which generally is put into a cinerary urn. In Australia, reusable or cardboard coffins are rare, with only a few manufacturers now supplying them. For low cost,

5829-420: The process, although about 1–4% of carbon remains as carbonate. The ash remaining represents very roughly 3.5% of the body's original mass (2.5% in children). Because the weight of dry bone fragments is so closely connected to skeletal mass, their weight varies greatly from person to person. Because many changes in body composition (such as fat and muscle loss or gain) do not affect the weight of cremated remains,

5916-447: The remains are processed, smaller bits of metal such as tooth fillings, and rings (commonly known as gleanings ) are sieved out and may be later interred in common, consecrated ground in a remote area of the cemetery. They may also be sold as precious metal scrap. Cremated remains are returned to the next of kin in different manners according to custom and country. In the United States, the cremated remains are almost always contained in

6003-401: The retort and pulverised by a machine called a Cremulator —essentially a high-capacity, high-speed Pulverizer —to process them into "ashes" or "cremated remains", although pulverisation may also be performed by hand. This leaves the bone with a fine sand like texture and color, able to be scattered without need for mixing with any foreign matter, though the size of the grain varies depending on

6090-474: The risk of explosion. Large items such as titanium hip replacements (which tarnish but do not melt) or casket hinges are usually removed before processing, as they may damage the processor. (If they are missed at first, they must ultimately be removed before processing is complete, as items such as titanium joint replacements are far too durable to be ground.) Implants may be returned to the family, but are more commonly sold as ferrous/non-ferrous scrap metal . After

6177-628: The same period. These ashes were usually thereafter deposited in a vessel of clay or bronze in an "urn cemetery". The custom again died out with the Christian conversion of the Anglo-Saxons or Early English during the 7th century, when Christian burial became general. In parts of Europe, cremation was forbidden by law, and even punishable by death if combined with Heathen rites. Cremation was sometimes used by Catholic authorities as part of punishment for accused heretics, which included burning at

6264-455: The skeletons left behind, or the bones can then be stored or buried, as practiced by some groups of Native Americans in protohistoric times. Sky burials were practiced by the ancient Persians, Tibetans and some Native Americans in protohistoric times. Specifically, the conditions of a shallow active layer as well as the lack of firewood led the Tibetans to practice jhator or "giving alms to

6351-567: The stake . For example, the body of John Wycliff was exhumed years after his death and burned to ashes, with the ashes thrown in a river, explicitly as a posthumous punishment for his denial of the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation . The first to advocate for the use of cremation was the physician Sir Thomas Browne in Urne Buriall (1658) which interpreted cremation as means of oblivion and reveals plainly that "'there

6438-457: The time, many proponents believed in the miasma theory , and that cremation would reduce the "bad air" that caused diseases. These movements were associated with secularism and gained a following in cultural and intellectual circles. In Italy, the movement was associated with anti-clericalism and Freemasonry , whereas these were not major themes of the movement in Britain. In 1869, the idea

6525-821: The town of Gotha in Germany and later in Heidelberg in 1891. The first modern crematory in the U.S. was built in 1876 by Francis Julius LeMoyne after hearing about its use in Europe. Like many early proponents, he was motivated by a belief it would be beneficial for public health. Before LeMoyne's crematory closed in 1901, it had performed 42 cremations. Other countries that opened their first crematorium included Sweden (1887 in Stockholm), Switzerland (1889 in Zurich) and France (1889 in Père Lachaise , Paris). Some of

6612-495: The use of this furnace for the incineration of organic material at his factory in Dresden . The radical politician, Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke , took the corpse of his dead wife there to be cremated in 1874. The efficient and cheap process brought about the quick and complete incineration of the body and was a fundamental technical breakthrough that finally made industrial cremation a practical possibility. The first crematorium in

6699-474: The various Protestant churches came to accept cremation. In Anglican and Nordic Protestant countries, cremation gained acceptance (though it did not yet become the norm) first by the upper classes and cultural circles, and then by the rest of the population. In 1905, Westminster Abbey interred ashes for the first time; by 1911 the Abbey was expressing a preference for interring ashes. The 1908 Catholic Encyclopedia

6786-403: The very poor who cannot afford the wood for cremation. When a family can only afford enough wood to partially incinerate a body, the remaining body parts that were not consumed by fire are set adrift in the water. The Ganges is the most common location for these ceremonies because it is sacred to Hindus and plays a central role in the religion's funerary traditions. The riverside city of Varanasi

6873-784: The weight of the remains can be more closely predicted from the person's height and sex (which predicts skeletal weight), than it can be predicted from the person's simple weight. Ashes of adults can be said to weigh from 876 to 3,784 g (1 lb 15 oz to 8 lb 5 oz), with women's ashes generally weighing below 2,750 g (6 lb 1 oz) and men's ashes generally weighing above 1,887 g (4 lb 3 oz). Bones are not all that remain after cremation. There may be melted metal lumps from missed jewellery; casket furniture; dental fillings; and surgical implants, such as hip replacements. Breast implants do not have to be removed before cremation. Some medical devices such as pacemakers may need to be removed before cremation to avoid

6960-805: Was almost entirely replaced by inhumation. In Europe, there are traces of cremation dating to the Early Bronze Age (c. 2000 BCE) in the Pannonian Plain and along the middle Danube . The custom became dominant throughout Bronze Age Europe with the Urnfield culture (from c. 1300 BCE). In the Iron Age , inhumation again becomes more common, but cremation persisted in the Villanovan culture and elsewhere. Homer 's account of Patroclus ' burial describes cremation with subsequent burial in

7047-534: Was also widely adopted by Semitic peoples. The Babylonians, according to Herodotus , embalmed their dead. Phoenicians practiced both cremation and burial. From the Cycladic civilization in 3000 BCE until the Sub- Mycenaean era in 1200–1100 BCE, Greeks practiced burial. Cremation appeared around the 12th century BCE, probably influenced by Anatolia . Until the Christian era, when inhumation again became

7134-545: Was an Asuri whom Indra had allowed to become his second mother. The rishi of 10.47 is called Saptagu, while that of 10.48–50 is likewise called Indra Vaikuntha. 10.85 is a marriage hymn, evoking the marriage of Suryā, daughter of Surya (the Sun), another form of Ushas , the prototypical bride. RV 10.121 (the Hiranyagarbha Sukta ) is another hymn dealing with creation, containing elements of monotheism . It has

7221-460: Was arrested and put on trial for attempting to cremate his son's body. Price successfully argued in court that while the law did not state that cremation was legal, it also did not state that it was illegal. The case set a precedent that allowed the Cremation Society to proceed. In 1885, the first official cremation in the United Kingdom took place in Woking. The deceased was Jeanette Pickersgill ,

7308-790: Was critical of the development, referring to them as a "sinister movement" and associating them with Freemasonry , although it said that "there is nothing directly opposed to any dogma of the Church in the practice of cremation." In the U.S. only about one crematory per year was built in the late 19th century. As embalming became more widely accepted and used, crematories lost their sanitary edge. Not to be left behind, crematories had an idea of making cremation beautiful. They started building crematories with stained-glass windows and marble floors with frescoed walls. Australia also started to establish modern cremation movements and societies. Australians had their first purpose-built modern crematorium and chapel in

7395-687: Was presented to the Medical International Congress of Florence by Professors Coletti and Castiglioni "in the name of public health and civilization". In 1873, Professor Paolo Gorini of Lodi and Professor Ludovico Brunetti of Padua published reports of practical work they had conducted. A model of Brunetti's cremating apparatus, together with the resulting ashes, was exhibited at the Vienna Exposition in 1873 and attracted great attention Meanwhile, Sir Charles William Siemens had developed his regenerative furnace in

7482-431: Was that "it was becoming a necessary sanitary precaution against the propagation of disease among a population daily growing larger in relation to the area it occupied". In addition, he believed, cremation would prevent premature burial, reduce the expense of funerals, spare mourners the necessity of standing exposed to the weather during interment, and urns would be safe from vandalism. He joined with other proponents to form

7569-545: Was usual but diminished by the 4th century. It then reappeared in the 5th and 6th centuries during the migration era, when sacrificed animals were sometimes included on the pyre, and the dead were dressed in costume and with ornaments for the burning. That custom was also very widespread among the Germanic peoples of the northern continental lands from which the Anglo-Saxon migrants are supposed to have been derived, during

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