Cremation (redirected from Human incineration)

cremation, disposal of a corpse by fire. It is an ancient and widespread practice, second only to burial. It has been found among the chiefdoms of the Pacific Northwest, among Northern Athapascan bands in Alaska, and among Canadian cultural groups. It was noted in Greece as early as 1000 B.C. and was the predominant mode of corpse disposal by the time of Homer. Until the advent of Christianity as the dominant religion in the Roman empire, cremation was widely accepted. The practice of cremation in the West gained new favor with the rise of large cities and the realization of the health hazard associated with crowded cemeteries. In the late 19th cent., the practice was legalized in several European countries and the first crematory in the United States was built. The use of cremation is often related to a belief in the properties of fire as a purifying agent. Its object may also be to light the way of the deceased to another world, or to prevent the return of the dead. More practical considerations include the fear of depredation by enemies and, in the modern world, the physical shortage of land in urban areas. The earliest known method of cremation was the log pyre. In more elaborate practices, pitch and gums are added to the wood. Modern crematories expose the corpse not to flames, but to intense heat that reduces the body to ashes. Disposal of the ashes varies in different parts of the world. Hindus, for whom cremation is the typical form of disposal, place them in urns or put them in a river, preferably the sacred Ganges. Other methods include burial, scattering, or preservation in a decorative urn. The practice is widely accepted in many Western countries today, although it has seen relatively little popularity in the United States as yet. See suttee.

Bibliography

For bibliography see funeral customs.

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cremation

Disposing of a corpse by burning. In the ancient world cremation took place on an open pyre. It was practiced by the Greeks (who considered it suitable for heroes and war dead) and the Romans (among whom it became a status symbol). The pagan Scandinavians also cremated their dead. In India the custom is very ancient. In some Asian countries only certain people may be cremated (e.g., high lamas in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China). Christianity opposed cremation, and it became rare in Europe after AD 1000 except under extreme circumstances, such as that brought on by the Black Death. The practice reemerged in the late 19th century and was eventually accepted by both Protestants and Roman Catholics.

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Cremation 

the burning of corpses in special furnaces, a type of funeral.

The practice of burning corpses began in the late Neolithic and early Bronze ages. The burning of corpses on bonfires was widespread among the Greeks, Romans, and some other ancient peoples; the ancient Slavs also practiced it. Cremation has also been practiced in Japan since ancient times, as it has in India and other countries of Southeast Asia, primarily where Buddhism and Hinduism are preached. With the spread of Christianity, especially in the European countries, where it became the dominant religion, cremation was forbidden, since Christianity considered it a heathen ritual that contradicted the Christian doctrine of a “life after death” and “the resurrection from the dead.” Only in the second half of the 19th century did the burning of corpses begin again in European countries. Special furnaces were designed for cremation, in which burning proceeded in a jet of extremely hot air (up to 1000°C), the first crematories were built (Milan in 1876, London in 1885, Stockholm in 1887), and requirements for cremation were developed.

The advantage of cremation over the other methods of disposing of corpses lies in the complete and rapid (1–1.5 hours) destruction of the corpse’s organic substances under rigorously hygienic conditions. In the USSR cremation was sanctioned by a decree of the Council of People’s Commissars of the RSFSR of Dec. 7, 1918. Beginning in the 1920’s and 1930’s cremation came into wide use in many countries. After cremation, the ashes are placed in an urn and are stored in columbaria or are buried in the ground.