Cremation

Cremation, practice of burning human corpses. In cremation the body is reduced to ashes in specially constructed furnaces; the ashes are then preserved in an urn, and are either buried in the urn, or are scattered (often in accordance with the wishes of the deceased, for instance, at sea, or over sacred ground).

Evidence of cremation dates from antiquity. Pottery vessels from the Neolithic Period, filled with the ashes of several individuals, have been found throughout Europe. Between 1400 bc and ad 200, cremation was the preferred burial custom, especially among Roman aristocrats; the Caesar family was one of many to choose this mode. Between the 3rd and 19th centuries, Christianity became widely accepted. Its doctrines forbade cremation because of the belief that the body could not be resurrected if it were destroyed. Early Jews also prohibited cremation, believing it was the desecration of a work of God. Orthodox Jews, the Eastern Orthodox Christian Churches, and Muslims are still forbidden to cremate their dead. Other groups of people, especially in India, continued to practise cremation and still do today. At present, cremation is practised by some Jews and Christians, and by Buddhists, Sikhs, and Hindus.

Economic and sanitary considerations are the principal reasons for the increased number of cremations in recent years. Expanding populations have created land shortages, causing a space for burial to become scarce and expensive. In addition, burial can sometimes contaminate water supplies for entire communities. This is especially serious when death has been caused by a highly contagious disease.

A society advocating cremation was founded in England in 1874. Although initially opposition was great to the modern revival of cremating the dead, strict legal requirements to determine the cause of death allayed opponents' fears that evidence of a murder might be destroyed by cremation.