In the book, you note that cemeteries as we know them today first emerged in the 1830s, with the rural cemetery movement. As you mention, Americans had always buried their dead, but did so in churchyards, town commons, or municipal burial grounds.
How did graveyards start?
As Christianity took hold, people began to bury their dead in or under religious buildings. By 752 A.D., churchyards were added as a suitable place for burials. Definite boundaries marked the consecrated area for burials. This area required perpetual care, and signaled the emergence of the modern cemetery.
When did the rural cemetery movement start in the USA?
1831
For reasons of public health and overcrowding, burial grounds began to be located outside of population centers, no longer on church ground. These cemeteries spawned the “Rural” Cemetery Movement, beginning in 1831 with Mount Auburn, Boston; Laurel Hill, Philadelphia (1836); Greenwood, N.Y. (1838); Lowell, Mass.
What was the rural cemetery movement of the 19th century?
However, the nineteenth century’s Rural Cemetery Movement changed America’s perspective towards death and burying the dead. The growth of nineteenth-century Romanticism influenced people to desire “pleasant” and “memorable” burial grounds for the dead.
What happens to a body buried in a mausoleum?
In a mausoleum, the decomposition process is occurring above ground (note that even if a body is embalmed, it will decompose eventually). When a body is buried, the odors of decomposition are hidden away where they generally can’t be smelled, but this is not necessarily the case in a mausoleum.
Why do we bury the dead?
It has been used to prevent the odor of decay, to give family members closure and prevent them from witnessing the decomposition of their loved ones, and in many cultures it has been seen as a necessary step for the deceased to enter the afterlife or to give back to the cycle of life.
Who started the first cemetery?
Ancient Greeks had been using the site to bury their dead since at least 3000 BCE and an organized cemetery was established around 1200 BCE. Kerameikos is divided into two major sections, the older area is located within the ancient city walls and the other is one the outside.
Why are cemeteries on hills?
Originally, settlers had buried their dead at Army Forts located throughout the territories. But when lawlessness set in, and people were being killed faster than they could bury them, the need for a local cemetery became clear. Hence, the boot hills.
Do bodies rot in a mausoleum?
Again, bodies that are entombed in a mausoleum still decompose. This process produces gases, and those gases can cause explosions.
