The reuse of graves is far from a modern phenomenon, caused by exponential population growth and overcrowding in towns and cities. Reusing the same place for burials is a tradition that has been repeated time and again in different cultures across the world, for thousands of years.
Grave reuse has been legally practised in South Australia since 1863, explains Robert Pitt, CEO of the Adelaide Cemeteries Authority. When a grave site's interment rights are issued, it's for a period of either 50 or 99 years. After that point, graves are available to be reused.
Length of a right of interment
A right of interment for a place of interment that can accommodate both bodily remains and cremated remains (for example, graves, vaults and mausoleum crypts) must be perpetual (forever).
When a lease is up, in some places you can renew it, in others your exclusive right to the plot ends and the ground can be reused. Remains (bones mostly) are either removed from the grave and placed in an ossuary or the grave dug deeper so that it can hold the bones at the bottom and a new burial above.
Ideally, the cemetery will be moved (both the headstones and the remains) when the church next to is torn down or when the community that it serves expands to encompass it, or is itself abandoned. Another area is purchased to replace the cemetery (or donated) and the remains are interred at the new location.
Capacity of the grave
Graves can be for a maximum of three full earth burials, depending on ground conditions in the cemetery. The depth has to be determined with the first burial. In a dedicated cremation plot, designed solely for cremated remains, ten caskets can be interred.
When soil is replaced into a grave, it will inevitably contain more air pockets than the compacted soil before excavation. Over time, a backfilled grave will 'sink' as the air pockets escape and the soil settles; this is absolutely natural and practically unavoidable, especially in wet weather.
If the ground is light, dry soil, decomposition is quicker. Generally speaking, a body takes 10 or 15 years to decompose to a skeleton. Some of the old Victorian graves hold families of up to eight people. As those coffins decompose, the remains will gradually sink to the bottom of the grave and merge.
But by 50 years, the tissues will have liquefied and disappeared, leaving behind mummified skin and tendons. Eventually these too will disintegrate, and after 80 years in that coffin, your bones will crack as the soft collagen inside them deteriorates, leaving nothing but the brittle mineral frame behind.
If insects can be excluded, a body will decompose quite slowly, because maggots are the most voracious flesh feeders. Although an exposed human body in optimum conditions can be reduced to bone in 10 days, a body that is buried 1.2 m under the ground retains most of its tissue for a year.
In use between 1789 and 1824, it contains the oldest known undisturbed grave in Australia, marked by a slab of river sandstone which bears the inscription: "H.E. Dodd 1791." Henry Edward Dodd was Gov. Phillip's butler. He was buried there on 29th January 1791, a year after the opening of the cemetery.
While approval is required for the burial of bodily remains outside a public cemetery, there is no impediment to the burial of cremated remains on private property. This may be an option that you and your family may wish to consider further.
Usually this means that someone had been buried before that stone monument was made. Most of the older gravestones don't contain dates because dates were never inscribed on them before the deaths of most of the people who are buried there. The numbers on the gravestones of the cemetery show how long the people lived.
A headstone should only be removed from the graveyard by a community-based group or local official acting within the limits of local and state law or operating with the knowledge of the descendants of the deceased. In most circumstances, it is preferable to repair a headstone rather than remove it.
Foremost, never attempt to clean a gravestone, marker or cemetery memorial that does not “belong to you.” In other words, if the deceased was not a member of your immediate family, you should not attempt any cleaning efforts without the express written consent of the owner/immediate family.
Interment of Cremated Remains
Cremation and burial are seen as two separate options, but cremated remains can be buried to create a final resting place.
During cremation, the body parts that do burn consist of organs, soft tissue, hair, and skin, while the water in our bodies evaporates. The body parts that do not burn are bone fragments.
It is a common practice to cover the legs as there is swelling in the feet and shoes don't fit. As part of funeral care, the body is dressed and preserved, with the prime focus on the face. Post embalming, bodies are often placed without shoes; hence covering the legs is the way to offer a dignified funeral.
Caskets made from either metal or wood will take an average of 50 or more years to decompose underground. The casket's duration depends on the type of wood used to build it and the composition of chemicals found on the grave.
Understanding Closed Casket Funeral Protocols
In a closed casket funeral, the body is not able to be seen during the viewing or the funeral service. The casket will be closed the entire time, but that does not mean that people have to distance themselves from the body of their loved one.
A private grave will normally hold four adult interments, but no guarantees can be made as ground conditions vary from time to time and from place to place, which affects grave capacity.
To Protect the Corpse from Being Stolen. Snatching dead bodies was common in many parts of England and Scotland in the early 1800s. Therefore, graves were always dug six feet deep to prevent body snatchers from gaining access to the buried remains.
Preserving the Deceased's Remains
To prevent rapid decay, funeral homes drain out the blood and other fluids since they facilitate faster decomposition. They then replace it with anti-decay chemicals.
One of the hardest parts of burial is saying goodbye to your loved one for the final time. Throwing dirt on the grave is a visual symbol of this goodbye, and it's a final offering to the loved one. By leading the burial effort with the initial throws of dirt, the family takes a step closer to closure.
Therefore the grave needs to be deep enough to allow not only for the depth of coffins/caskets that will be buried but also to accommodate legal requirements of undisturbed earth to be between each coffin and the amount of earth that must cover the last interment.