Human body disposal
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
When human beings die, their bodies start to decompose. For this reason, they have to be disposed of after death. The problem of body disposal has two parts: disposal of the soft tissues, which will rapidly decompose, and of the skeleton, which will remain intact for thousands of years under the right conditions.
There are many ways that human bodies have been disposed of, in ways that range from reverent to expedient. Practices relating to the disposal of corpses vary widely depending on culture, religion, and jurisdiction.
In most societies, burial of the entire body is the commonest method of disposal. Cremation, which burns soft tissue and renders the skeleton to ash, is the second most common.
Less common methods include:
- Mummification (practiced by the ancient Egyptians)
- exposure on the Towers of Silence (praticed by Parsees)
- Burial at sea
- A few people's remains have already been given a burial in space.
- Some cultures have used ritual cannibalism as a way to dispose of body tissues
- A few people, such as the economist Jeremy Bentham, have had their dead bodies stuffed.
Different religions and cultures have various funeral rites that accompany the disposal of the body. Some require that all parts of the body are buried together. In the case of an autopsy, removed parts of the body are sewn back into the body so that they may be buried with the rest of the corpse.
In the case of mass disasters, or epidemics, large groups of people have been buried in mass graves or plague pits. Mass graves have also been used to dispose of the victims of genocide and war crimes. Criminals have also sought to dispose of their victims in many ways, the most common of which is burying them in a shallow grave, although some attempt to dispose of the body through dismemberment or the use of corrosive chemicals.
Legal regulation
Many jurisdictions have enacted regulations relating to the disposal of human bodies. Although it may be entirely legal to bury a deceased family member, the law may restrict the locations in which this activity is allowed, in some cases expressly limiting burials to property controlled by specific, licensed institutions. Furthermore, in many places, failure to properly dispose of a body is a crime.
Special cases
Where it is not possible for a body to be disposed of promptly, it is generally stored at a morgue. Where this is not possible, such as in a battlefield, body bags are used to store corpses.
Where parts of the body die, without the individual dying, they are not given a funeral. They are typically disposed of as clinical waste, unless they need to be preserved for cultural reasons, as described above.
Where permitted, organ donation may re-use some of the dead person's organs for medical purposes; in this case, the organs may well live on well after the death of their original owner. Other people may have permitted their dead bodies to be used for medical research.
Attitudes towards stillborn fetuses has changed in recent years; they often used to be disposed of as clinical waste, but are now commonly given funerals.
See also
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