Cremation
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Cremation is the practice of disposing of a corpse by burning. This often takes place in a crematorium or crematory. Cremation and burial are the main ways of final disposition of the dead.
Cremation process
Cremation furnace
The place where the cremation takes place is called crematorium. The crematorium consists of one or more ovens or furnaces and facilities for handling of the ashes. A cremation furnace (crematory) is a large furnace capable of reaching high temperatures up to approximately 1600-1800 °F (870-980 °C) with special modifications to ensure the efficient disintegration of the corpse. One of these modifications is the aiming of the flames at the corpse's torso, where a majority of the corpse's mass rests.
The crematorium may be part of chapel or a funeral home, or it may be part of an independent facility or a service offered by a cemetery.
The furnaces use a number of different fuel sources, such as natural or propane gas. Modern cremation furnaces include control systems that monitor the conditions inside the furnace while a cremation is taking place. The operator can make adjustments to provide for more efficient burning, as well as ensuring that minimal environmental pollution occurs.
A cremation furnace is not designed to cremate more than one body at a time, and to do so is against the law in all 50 US states and many other nations.
The chamber where the body is placed is called the retort. It is lined with special bricks to help retain the heat. These bricks require replacement after about five years because of continual expansion and contraction due to temperature cycling.
Modern cremators are computer-controlled with safety devices and interlocks to ensure legal and safe use, e.g., the door cannot be opened until the cremator has reached the correct operating temperature. The coffin is injected into the retort as quickly as possible to avoid heat loss from the top-opening door. The coffin may be on a motorised trolley that can inject the coffin at speed, or one that can tilt to tip the coffin down a slope into the cremator.
Crematoriums will allow relatives to view the injection and sometimes this is done for religious reasons, e.g., Hindus. However, notwithstanding the respect with which the deceased is treated, this is fundamentally an industrial process and not recommended for the sensitive or faint-of-heart.
Cremators are a standard size. Large cities will have access to an oversize cremator that can handle deceased in the 200+ kg range. However, the morbidly obese cannot be cremated and must be buried.
Body container
A body to be cremated is first placed in a container for cremation, which can be a simple corrugated cardboard box or a wooden casket. Most casket manufacturers provide a line of caskets specially built for cremation. Another option is a cardboard box that fits inside a wooden shell designed to look like a traditional casket. After the funeral service the interior box is removed from the shell before cremation, permitting the shell to be reused.
Funeral homes may also offer rental caskets, which are traditional caskets used only for the duration of the services, after which the body is transferred to another container for cremation. Rental caskets are sometimes designed with removable beds and liners, replaced after each use.
In Australia, the deceased is cremated in a coffin supplied by the undertaker. Reusable or cardboard coffins are unknown. If cost is an issue, a plain, particle-board coffin known in the trade as a 'chippie' will be offered. Handles (if fitted) are plastic and approved for use in a cremator. Coffins vary from unfinished particle board (covered with a velvet pall if there is a service) to solid timber. Most are veneered particle board.
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 crematoriums to schedule cremations to make best use of the cremators, perhaps by holding the body overnight in a refrigerator. As a result a lower fee is applicable. Delivery-only may be referred to by industry jargon such as 'west chapel service'.
Burning and ashes collection
The box containing the body is placed in the retort and incinerated at a temperature of 760 to 1150 °C (1400 to 2100 °F). During the cremation process, a large part of the body (especially the organs) and other soft tissue is vaporized and oxidized due to the heat, and the gases are discharged through the exhaust system. The entire process usually takes about two hours.
All that remains after cremation are dry bone fragments (mostly calcium phosphates and minor minerals). These representing roughly 3.5% of the body's original mass (2.5% in children, but these figures vary greatly due to body composition). Because the weight of dry bone fragments are so closely connected to skeletal mass, their weight varies greatly from person to person, with the mean weight in a Florida, U.S. sample being 5.3 lbs for adults (range 2 to 8 lbs). This is distributed bimodally, with the mean being 6 lbs for men (range 4 to 8 lbs) and 4 lbs for women (range 2 to 6 lbs). In this sample, generally all adult cremated remains over 6 pounds were from males, and those under 4 pounds were from females [PMID 9144931].
Jewellery, such as wristwatches and rings, are ordinarly not removed. The only non-natural item required to be removed is a pacemaker. The undertaker is required to sign a declaration to the operator that any pacemaker has been removed. A pacemaker could explode and damage the cremator. The undertaker will remove a pacemaker prior to delivering the body to the crematorium.
After the incineration is completed, the bone fragments are swept out of the retort, and the operator uses a pulverizer called a cremulator (also known informally as a crembola) to process them into a consistent powder. The cremulator is essentially a rotating drum similar to a spindryer, except it is filled with steel ball bearings whose disturbance powders the weakened bones.
In Japan and Taiwan, the bones are not pulverized unless requested beforehand, and are collected by the family.
This is one of the reasons cremated remains are called ashes although a technical term sometimes used is "cremains". The ashes are placed in a container, which can be anything from a simple cardboard box to a fancy urn. An unavoidable consequence of cremation is that a tiny residue of bodily remains is left in the chamber after cremation and mixes with subsequent cremations.
Not all that remains is bone. There will be melted metal lumps from jewellery, casket furniture, and dental fillings, and surgical implants such as hip replacements. After grinding, these are sieved out and later interred in common, consecrated ground in a remote area of the cemetery.
The Pyre alternative
An alternative method used in some cultures, such as Hinduism, is burning the corpse on a pyre. A pyre is a pile of wood upon which the deceased's body is placed on top or inside of. The mound is lit on fire, the fire consumes the wood and the deceased. This method is not commonly found in the western world where crematorium ovens are used, and is forbidden by law in some countries.
Ways of keeping or disposing of the cremated remains
Cremated remains are returned to the next of kin in a rectangular plastic container, contained within a further cardboard box or velvet sack. An official certificate of cremation prepared under the authority of the crematorium accompanies the remains.
Cremated remains can be kept in an urn, sprinkled on a special field or in the sea, or buried in the ground. In addition, there are several services which will scatter the cremated remains in a variety of ways and locations. Some examples are via a helium balloon, through fireworks, shot from shotgun shells or scattered from a plane. One service will send the remains into space and another will have them turned into a diamond in an artificial diamond manufacturing machine, as the ashes are mainly carbon based. They can also be incorporated, with urn and cement, into part of an artificial reef. Cremated remains can be scattered in national parks in the US, with a special permit. They can also be scattered on private property, with the owner's permission. A portion of the cremated remains may be retained in a specially designed locket known as a keepsake pendant. The final disposition depends on the personal wishes of the deceased as well as their religious beliefs. Some religions will permit the cremated remains to be sprinkled or kept at home. Some religions, such as Roman Catholicism, insist on either burying or entombing the remains.
Hinduism obliges the closest male relative (son, father, husband, etc.) of the deceased to immerse the cremated remains in the holy river Ganges, preferably at the holy city of Haridwar, India. The cremated remains may also be entombed, in case the deceased was a well-known person.
In Japan and Taiwan, the remaining bone fragments are given to the family and are used in a burial ritual before final interment.
History
Cremation first appears in the Levant in the Neolithic, but declines with Semitic settlement of the area in the 3rd millennium. Cremation was widely regarded as barbaric in the Ancient Near East, to be used only by necessity in times of plague. The Babylonians, according to Herodotus, embalmed their dead, and the Zoroastrian Persians punished capitally even attempted cremation, with special regulations for the purification of fire so desecrated.
In Europe, there are traces of cremation dating to the Early Bronze Age (ca. 2000 B.C.E.) in the Pannonian Plain and along the middle Danube. The custom becomes dominant throughout Bronze Age Europe with the Urnfield culture (from ca. 1300 B.C.E.). In the Iron Age, inhumation becomes again more common, but cremation persisted in the Villanovan culture and elsewhere. Homer's account of Patroclus' burial describes cremation with subsequent burial in a tumulus similar to Urnfield burials, qualifying as the earliest description of cremation rites. Early cremation may have been connected to ideas of fire sacrifice, such as those to Taranis in Celtic paganism (see human sacrifice).
Hinduism is notable for not only allowing but prescribing cremation. Cremation in India is first attested in the Cemetery H culture (from ca. 1900 B.C.E.), considered the formative stage of Vedic civilization. The Rigveda contains a reference to the emerging practice, in RV 10.15.14, where the forefathers "both cremated (agnidagdhá-) and uncremated (ánagnidagdha-)" are invoked.
Cremation was common, but not universal, in both Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. In Rome, inhumation was considered the more archaic rite (Cicero, De Leg., 2.22), and indeed the Cornelian gens, one of the most cultured in Rome, had, with the single exception of Sulla, never permitted the burning of their dead. Christianity frowned upon cremation, both influenced by the tenets of Judaism, and in an attempt to abolish Graeco-Roman pagan rituals. By the 5th century, the practice of cremation had practically disappeared from Europe.
The modern cremation movements began only in 1873, with the presentation of a cremation chamber by Paduan Professor Brunetti at the Vienna Exposition. In Britain, the movement found the support of Queen Victoria's surgeon, Sir Henry Thompson, who together with colleagues founded the Cremation Society of England in 1874. The first crematories in Europe were built in 1878 in Woking, England and Gotha, Germany, the first in North America in 1876 by Julius LeMoyne in Washington, Pennsylvania. Cremation was declared as legal in England and Wales when Dr William Price was prosecuted for cremating his son; formal legislation followed later with the passing of the Cremation Act 1902[1], (this Act did not extend to Ireland) which imposed procedural requirements before a cremation could occur and restricted the practice to authorised places. Some of the various Protestant churches came to accept cremation, with the rationale being, "God can resurrect a bowl of ashes just as conveniently as he can resurrect a bowl of dust". The 1908 Catholic Encyclopedia was critical about these efforts, referring to them as "these sinister movements" and associating them with Freemasonry. In 1963, Pope Paul VI lifted the ban on cremation, and in 1966 allowed Catholic priests to officiate at cremation ceremonies.
Reasons for choosing cremation
People choose cremation for a variety of reasons, including religious reasons, other personal reasons, environmental reasons, and cost.
Dharmic faiths
While the Abrahamic religions prohibit cremation or prefer burial over cremation, the Eastern religions (i.e., Dharmic faiths) such as Hinduism and Buddhism mandate the use of cremation. In Sikhism, burial is not prohibited although cremation is the preferred option for cultural reasons rather than religious.
Christian
In Christian countries, cremation fell out of favour. The Catholic Church's discouragement of cremation stemmed from several ideas: first, that the body, as the instrument through which the sacraments are received, is itself a sacramental, a holy object; second that as an integral part of the human person (St. Thomas Aquinas, for instance, specifically rejected the notion that the human person is merely the soul "trapped" in a body) it should be disposed of in a way that honors and reverences it, and many early practices involved with disposal of dead bodies were viewed as pagan in origin or an insult to the body; third, that in imitation of Jesus Christ's burial, the body of a Christian should be buried; and fourth, that because cremation was often seen as or used as a statement by certain groups denying the resurrection, allowing it would confuse the faithful. The Church never forbade cremation because of any alleged belief that it interfered with God's ability to resurrect the body.
Cremation was, in fact, not forbidden in and of itself - even in Medieval Europe cremation was practised in situations where there were multitudes of corpses simultaneously present, such as after a battle, after a pestilence or famine, and where there was an imminent danger of diseases spreading from the corpses. However, earth burial or entombment remained the law unless there were circumstances that required cremation for the public good.
Beginning in the Middle Ages, and even more so in the 18th Century and later, rationalists and classicists began to advocate cremation again as a statement denying the resurrection and/or the afterlife. The Catholic Church's rules against cremation became hardened in the face of this. These rules were softened in the 1960s. The Catholic Church still officially prefers the traditional burial or entombment of the deceased, but cremation is now freely permitted as long as it is not done to express a refusal to believe in the resurrection of the body.[2]
Until 1997, Catholic liturgical regulations required that cremation take place after the funeral Mass, so that, if possible, the body might be present for the Mass - the body was present as a symbol, and to receive the blessings and be the subject of prayers in which it is mentioned. Once the Mass itself was concluded, the body could be cremated and a second service could be held at the crematorium or cemetery where the ashes were to be interred just as for a body burial. The liturgical regulations now allow for a Mass with the container of ashes present, but permission of the local bishop is needed for this. The Church still specifies requirements for the reverent disposition of ashes, normally that the ashes are to be buried or entombed in an appropriate container, such as an urn (rather than scattered or preserved in the family home, although there are Catholics who do this anyway). Catholic cemeteries today regularly receive cremated remains and many have columbaria.
Protestant churches were much more welcoming of the use of cremation and at a much earlier date than the Catholic Church. The first crematoria in the Protestant countries were built in 1870s, and by 1910 Westminster Abbey, one of the most famous Anglican churches, was requiring that remains be cremated for burial in the abbey's precincts. Scattering, or "strewing," is an acceptable practice in many Protestant denominations, and some churches have their own "garden of remembrance" on their grounds in which remains can be scattered.
On the other hand, some branches of Christianity still oppose cremation. The Eastern Orthodox Churches, for instance, forbid cremation. Exceptions are made for circumstances where it may not be avoided (when civil authority demands it, or epidemics) or if it may be sought for good cause, but when a cremation is willfully chosen for no good cause by the one who is deceased, he or she is not permitted a funeral in the church and may also be permanently excluded from liturgical prayers for the departed. In Orthodoxy, cremation is a rejection of the dogma of the general resurrection, and as such is viewed harshly.
Judaism
Judaism has traditionally disapproved of cremation, as it was the traditional means of disposing the dead in the neighbouring Bronze Age Pagan Semitic cultures, but also disapproved of preservation of the dead by means of embalming and mummifying, as the Egyptians did. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, as the Jewish cemeteries in many European towns had become crowded and were running out of space, cremation became an approved means of burial amongst the Liberal Jews.
The Orthodox Jews have maintained a stricter line on cremation, and disapprove of it as Halakha (Jewish law) forbids it, considering a soul of a cremated person will remain as a restless wanderer for eternity. Also, the memory of the Holocaust, where millions of Jews were murdered and their bodies disposed by burning them either in crematoria or burning pits, has given cremation extremely negative connotations in the minds of Orthodox Jews, who often view it as blasphemy.
Mormonism
Since the organization of the Church in 1830, Latter-day Saints have been encouraged by their leaders to avoid cremation, unless it is required by law, and, wherever possible, to consign the body to burial in the earth and leave the dissolution of the body to nature, "for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" (Gen. 3:19). President Spencer W. Kimball wrote, "The meaning of death has not changed. It releases a spirit for growth and development and places a body in…Mother Earth" (p. 45). In due time the mortal body returns to native element, and whether it is laid away in a family-selected site or buried in the depths of the sea, every essential part will be restored in the Resurrection: "Every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame" (Alma 40:23).
To understand the LDS feeling about cremation, it is essential to understand the doctrine of the Church regarding the body. In a General Conference Elder James E. Talmage, an apostle, stated, "It is peculiar to the theology of the Latter-day Saints that we regard the body as an essential part of the soul. Read your dictionaries, the lexicons, and encyclopedias, and you will find that nowhere, outside of The Church of Jesus Christ, is the solemn and eternal truth taught that the soul of man is the body and the spirit combined" (CR, Oct. 1913, p. 117).
Zoroastrianism
The former Queen lead singer, Freddie Mercury, who was a Parsi-Zoroastrian, was cremated after his death. In addition, Rajiv Gandhi received a well-publicized cremation on a sandalwood pyre, and he too was Parsi (though maternally of Hindu descent).
Neopaganism
According to Feminist interpretations of the archaeological record, cremation is the usual means of burial in Patriarchal religions, the rising smoke symbolizing the deceased's spirit ascending to the domain of the Father deities in the heavens, while Matriarchal religions are speculated to have favoured interment of the corpse, often in a fetal position, representing the return of the body to Mother Earth in the tomb which represents the uterus. Of modern Neo-Pagan religions, Ásatrú favours cremation.
List of religions that permit cremation
Ásatrú, Buddhism, Christianity (containing Baptist Church, Calvinism, Church of England, Church of Ireland, Church of Scotland, Church in Wales, Lutheranism, Methodism, Moravian Church, Roman Catholicism, Salvation Army, Scottish Episcopal Church), Christian Science, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) (permitted but not encouraged), Hare Krishna (ISKCON), Hinduism (mandatory except for sanyasis, eunuchs and children under five), Jainism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Liberal Judaism, Seventh-day Adventist Church, Sikhs, Society of Friends (Quakers), Unitarian Universalism
List of religions that forbid cremation
Eastern Orthodox Church, Iglesia ni Cristo, Islam, Orthodox Judaism, Southern Baptist Convention, Zoroastrianism
- Neo-Confucianism under Zhu Xi strongly discourages cremation of one's parents' corpses as unfilial.
Other personal reasons
Some people find they prefer cremation for other reasons. For some people it is because they are not attracted to traditional burial. The thought of a long, slow decomposition process is unappealing to some, and they find that they prefer cremation for that reason.
Other people view cremation as a way of simplifying their funeral process. These people view a traditional burial as an unneeded complication of their funeral process, and thus choose cremation to make their services as simple as possible.
Environmental reasons
Others prefer cremation for environmental reasons. Some are concerned that during bodily decomposition body fluids and embalming chemicals could contaminate the Earth. Some locations have found that long-buried bodies are now causing groundwater contamination [citation needed]. Arsenic, used as an embalming chemical in the 19th and early 20th centuries, has been known to cause serious pollution later on.
Another environmental concern is that traditional burial takes up a great deal of space. In a traditional burial the body is buried in a casket made from a variety of materials. In America the casket is often placed inside a concrete vault or liner before burial in the ground. While individually this may not take much room, combined with other burials it can over time cause serious space concerns. Many cemeteries, particularly in Europe and Japan as well as those in larger cities, are starting to run out of space. In Tokyo, for example, it is almost impossible to find a traditional funeral plot.
One item of concern has been that the exhaust systems of cremation ovens may contribute to air pollution. The emissions are of concentrated CO2 along with a number of other harmful chemicals. Testing has been done to improve the emissions by gathering information from different heat temperatures from the ovens. The higher the temperature, the more likely for a dangerous amount of harmful greenhouse gas to escape into the Earth's atmosphere. In response crematorium manufacturers have built computerized control systems that regulate the exhaust systems but are not proven to be adiquately safe. Additionally some crematoria remove all plastic handles and fittings from a coffin before cremation and these are disposed of separately for the same reason.
Cost of cremation
The cost factor tends to make cremation attractive. Generally speaking, cremation costs less than traditional burial services, especially if direct cremation is chosen, in which the body is cremated as soon as legally possible without any sort of services. However, there is wide variation in the cost of cremation services, having mainly to do with the amount of service desired by the deceased or the family. A cremation can take place after a full traditional funeral service, which adds cost. The type of container used also influences cost.
Cremation makes possible the scattering of remains over an area, eliminating the need for and expense of a burial space. However, some religions such as Roman Catholicism require burial or entombment of cremated remains, and while not required the church does prefer that cremation take place after the funeral Mass. Burial or entombment also adds to the cost. The price will depend on what the deceased and/or the family has chosen. Cremated remains require far less space than a traditional burial or entombment and cremation plots or columbarium niches usually cost less than a burial plot or mausoleum crypt.
Environmental Concerns with Cremation
There is a growing body of research that indicates cremation has a significant impact on the environment:
The major emissions from crematories are: nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, mercury, hydrogen fluoride (HF), hydrogen chloride (HCl), NMVOCs, and other heavy metals, in addition to Persistent Organic Pollutants.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme report on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP) Emission Inventory Guidebook, emissions from crematoria, although comparatively small on an international scale, are still statistically significant. The POP inventory indicates that crematoria contribute 0.2% of the global emission of dioxins and furans.
Persistent Organic Pollutants include Dioxins and Furans, PAHs, benzo(a)pyrene, benzo(ghi)perylene, Benzo(k)fluoranthene, Fluoranthene, Indendo(123-cd)pyrene, Benzo(b)fluoranthene, Benz(a)anthracene, Dibenz(ah)anthracene, PCBs (Nos. 126, 169, 77, 118, 105, 123, 114, 156, 157,167, 189), Hexachlorobenzene, Toxaphene, Chlordane, Aldrin, DDT, Mirex, Dieldrin, Endrin, Hexabromobiphenyl, Pentachlorophenol, Heptachlor, Chlordecone, Short Chain Chlorinated Paraffins (SCCP), Lindane.
Negative recent history experiences with cremation
World War II
During the Holocaust, massive crematoria were constructed and operated round-the-clock by the Nazis within their concentration camps and extermination camps to dispose of the bodies of thousands of Jews, Gypsies, and other prisoners who were killed or died in the camps daily. In addition to the atrocity of mass murder, the remains of Jews were thus disposed of in a manner deeply offensive to Orthodox Judaism because Halakha, the Jewish law, forbids cremation and holds that the soul of a cremated person cannot find its final repose. Since then, cremation has carried an extremely negative connotation for many Jews. A similar attitude also remains prevalent in some countries which were occupied by Germans during WWII, such as Poland and parts of Russia.
The Tri-State Crematory Incident
A recent controversial event involved the failure to cremate, known as the Tri-State Crematory Incident. In the state of Georgia in the United States in early 2002, three hundred thirty-four corpses that were supposed to have been cremated in the previous few years at the Tri-State Crematory were found intact and decaying on the crematorium's grounds, having been dumped there by the crematorium's proprietor. Many of the corpses were beyond identification. In many cases the "ashes" that were returned to the family were not human remains - they were made of wood and concrete dust.
Eventually Ray Brent Marsh - who was the operator at the time the bodies were discovered - had 787 criminal charges filed against him. On November 19, 2004 Marsh pleaded guilty to all charges. Marsh was sentenced to two 12 year prison sentences from both Georgia and Tennessee which he is serving concurrently. Afterwards he will be on probation for 75 years.
Civil suits were filed against the Marsh family as well as a number of funeral homes who shipped bodies to Tri-State. These suits were ultimately settled. The property of the Marsh family has been sold, but collection of the full $80 million judgment remains doubtful. Families have expressed the desire to return the former Tri-State crematory to a natural, park like setting.
The Indian Ocean tsunamis
The magnitude 9.0-9.3 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake triggered a series of lethal tsunamis on December 26, 2004 that killed almost 300,000 people, making them the deadliest tsunamis in recorded history. The tsunamis killed people over an area ranging from the immediate vicinity of the quake in Indonesia, Thailand, and the north-western coast of Malaysia, to thousands of kilometres away in Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and even as far as Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania in eastern Africa.
Authorities had difficulties dealing with the large numbers of bodies, and as a result thousands of bodies were of necessity cremated together. Many of these bodies were not identified or viewed by relatives prior to cremation, which would have helped families better cope with their grief. A particular point of objection was that the bodies of Westerners were kept separate (officials understanding the dire long-term consequences for tourism if they were not identified and repatriated) from those of Asian descent, who were mostly locals. This meant that the bodies of tourists from other Asian nations, such as Japan and Korea, were mass cremated rather than being returned to their country of origin for funeral rites. However, time was of the essence. After one to two weeks of decomposition in the heat, the body of a deceased person becomes nearly impossible to identify; markers such as age, race and even gender become difficult to discern.
Sources
- EMEP/CORINAIR Atmospheric Emission Inventory Guidebook - 3rd edition October 2002 UPDATE - Technical report #30 – Incineration of Human Bodies
See also
- Burial
- Burial in space
- Funeral
- Immolation
- List of fictional people who were cremated
- Dr William Price the eccentric Welsh physician whose prosecution confirmed the legality of cremation in England and Wales.
External links
- The Cremation Society of Great Britain
- Cremation providers in the USA and Canada
- Cremation Association of North America
- Cremation (Catholic Encyclopedia)
- The Rosicrucian Method of Caring for the Dead, procedures supporting cremation only at 3 1/2 days (84 hours) after death
- International Scattering Society
- crematorium.eucrematory in Europe
- The first legal cremation in Britain at Ward's Book of Days
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