The new study reveals an increase in the number of bodies placed face-down on the edges of Christian cemeteries between the 14th and 17th centuries. The researchers argue that, in this part of Europe at least, burying people face-down was the preferred way to prevent malevolent corpses from returning to do harm.
“In particular, the prone burial was linked to the belief that the soul left the body through the mouth. Burying the dead face-down was a way to prevent the impure soul threatening the living,” anthropologist Elena Dellù from Italy's Institute of Archeology told Lorenzi.
The practice of burying the dead so their face would face the rising sun goes back to ancient Egyptians and Greeks who worshipped the sun god. According to their beliefs, it was most appropriate for their dead to face the sun to greet each new day.
Some people think that lawyers are special human beings. “They lie so much that they might not see God,” a quadragenarian sniggered. She thus explained the legend that wishes lawyers to be buried on their back, not face-down as the common mortals. In fact, the legend is not practiced.
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.
People may have also buried bodies 6 feet deep to help prevent theft. There was also concern that animals might disturb graves. Burying a body 6 feet deep may have been a way to stop animals from smelling the decomposing bodies. A body buried 6 feet deep would also be safe from accidental disturbances like plowing.
The body takes between ten to fifteen years to decay to a point where you may just find bones, teeth and hair remaining in the casket. There may also be some excess tissue and clothing fibers that withstood the ten years of decay.
As layers are piled one upon another, the sediments beneath are buried, sometimes by hundreds of metres of sediment above. The weight of these layers compacts (squashes down) the sediment grains. Minerals deposited from water in the spaces between the sediment grains gradually cements them together.
Setting the features is a mortuary term for the closing of the eyes and the mouth of a deceased person such that the cadaver is presentable as being in a state of rest and repose, and thus more suitable for viewing.
Many cultures believe in immediate judgment at the point of death. Therefore, the assumption became that those who died with their eyes opened received bad judgment. People who died with their eyes closed were perceived to be at peace because they received a beneficial judgment.
Livor, rigor, and algor mortis
Goff explains, “[T]he blood begins to settle, by gravity, to the lowest portions of the body,” causing the skin to become discolored. This process may begin after about an hour following death and can continue to develop until the 9–12 hour mark postmortem.
The short answer is yes. Many forward-thinking cemeteries and funeral homes are already looking for alternatives. One up-and-coming choice is “stand up” burials. This means the body is positioned standing up rather than laying down, effectively saving space.
Over time, coffins underground will decompose and eventually collapse. Covering the face before closing the casket adds an extra layer of protection and dignity for the deceased's face and can act as a symbolic final goodbye.
Unclaimed bodies are mostly cremated in the United States. Cremation lowers the cost to the government, and is more efficient for storage. The ashes are often buried in a large collective grave, or in a columbarium (above ground mausoleum for urns).
Trimming hair and nails
Generally, this emanates from the belief that nails and hair were given to the children by the deceased as a parent and as such they shouldn't be trimmed during the mourning period and after the burial. At least you should wait for 49 days.
Do they remove organs when you are embalmed? One of the most common questions people have about embalming is whether or not organs are removed. The answer is no; all of the organs remain in the body during the embalming process.
Carrying a coffin with the feet first helps keep it balanced and also means the deceased is being handled with great care. The funeral director will provide instructions on how to take the coffin.
Nothing physically prevents a casket from being unlocked and reopened before it is buried in a grave. When preparing for a funeral, funeral directors will seal, lock, and reopen caskets several times. They may close and seal it shut for transport to the funeral, then open it during the service.
It is not uncommon for caskets to eventually collapse if they are buried in soil that is prone to shifting. However, most caskets are designed to withstand the weight of 6 feet of dirt, so this is a rare occurrence and would never happen immediately after the coffin is buried.
A double depth burial means that the cemetery buries two caskets or burial containers one on top of another in the same grave space, rather than side-by-side as usually done. A standard double depth burial is illustrated below.
24-72 hours postmortem: internal organs begin to decompose due to cell death; the body begins to emit pungent odors; rigor mortis subsides. 3-5 days postmortem: as organs continue to decompose, bodily fluids leak from orifices; the skin turns a greenish color.
Although it's uncommon, caskets can be reopened after they've been sealed. In most cases, a funeral director can simply use a screwdriver, crowbar, or hexagonal key to break the seal and access the body inside.
And if the body is floating in water less than 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius) for about three weeks, the tissues turn into a soapy fatty acid known as "grave wax" that halts bacterial growth. The skin, however, will still blister and turn greenish black.
In a hundred years, the last of your bones will have collapsed into dust, and only the most durable part of your body, such as teeth, grave wax and some nylon threads.
For example, human burial legislation in NSW requires the top of the coffin to be buried no less than 900 millimetres below the natural surface level of the soil. This works out to around three feet. When you take the cask dimensions into account, you're looking at an overall single-coffin depth of four to five feet.