Composted Bodies

[macwil]

This will throw a spanner in the works for future historians and genealogists. 
Compost a Human 

No more headstones, memorial plaques or Monumental Inscriptions. 
Oh the horror!

[roopat]

I always thought that was the point of 'Woodland Burial Grounds'. At the lovely peaceful one I looked round they said you could put little markers of some description if you wanted or plant flowers, but I didn't see many.


The graves of both my father & my mother-in-law (both buried 1972) have sunk & the beautiful engraved stones are now hard to read. We're planning to get them renovated this year but after us, who will do it? A woodland burial seems so natural.


Pat

[macwil]

Sadly this is only in Washington, USA.

I keep telling my sisters "I don't care what happens to my body after I die. Just throw it on a compost heap!"

Unfortunately that is illegal in the UK. As I suspect this process will be without a Parliamentary Act.

[Viktoria]

I love cemeteries,but on my perambulations  I have obviously seen many old and not so old graves totally neglected.
It is so sad , I feel guilty that I don’t get to,our family graves any longer.
Not close by but the last time I visited one there had obviously been a dog fight or a fox torn to pieces,just next to the grave I was visiting.
This is Philip’s Park cemetery.
The previous time there was a big match at the Etihad  stadium and police cars were everywhere,they asked us what we were there for ,I explained a grave visit for F.H. purposes,gave names and dates as far as I could and grave number and site.
Two officers accompanied us ,the grave is sited just behind the main gatehouse 5  minutes walk from the entrance.
Job done and back in the car,we were advised not to go there alone or even together given our ages,(old)as drug dealers ,dog fighting gangs etc used the cemetery for their criminal purposes.
We went as children,it was quieter than the park and we tended family graves and any others we thought were deserving of attention. These were usually Victorian graves with lots of infant deaths,morbid little monkeys that we were.
But I would not go alone now,or indeed with a friend .
I would want my own armed  gang to accompany me.
What a pity, we played but respected the graves,never walked on one and
usually left a few graves better than when we found them.
It was like a nature reserve,in a built up area with hardly a blade of grass to be seen.
The park was nice but lots of gangs of children some of whom thought they had jurisdiction over who could and who couldn’t play there.
I was no match for them,so seldom went.
So to me an unattended grave is an admonishment,better to be scattered in the wind and remembered .
Saves future generations being guilt ridden as I am.
Viktoria.

[Primrose11]

When you scatter ashes you also deprive future generations of a headstone or memorial plaque. But we have scattered parents' ashes and don't miss having a grave to put flowers on.
 I think all the info will be online now anyway so the grave searching will not be necessary. Up for discussion however.
P

[Top-of-the-hill]

   Grave markers are a relatively recent thing. I don't suppose many of us have found any before the mid 1800s - I certainly haven't. Village churchyards where generations were buried without much in the way of markers, perhaps a wooden cross, now have to be closed because they are full of marked graves. Many of these have no-one left to look after them.

[Gillg]

I find the idea of composting bodies interesting from a space saving point of view, but what happens to the bones?  Archeologists dig up bones that are hundreds of years old and still find enough to recreate a skeleton.  That's another matter - I do wish they wouldn't disturb human remains.  It seems disrespectful to me. 

[Viktoria]

Oh I do agree,those people died in the belief they would lie undisturbed there or until the next life,depending on the beliefs of their culture.
I admire Professor Phil Harding of Time Team,he always says that the remains found must be treated with great respect,they were real people,human beings.
They died and were buried in the beliefs of their tribe ,clan etc and would think they would lie undisturbed until whatever came next in those beliefs.
It seems wrong they should lie in a box in for example , The British Museum.
Woodland burials seem peaceful and will appeal to many but I can see problems in the future , as anyone knows who has had a recent bereavement funerals are big business,and emotionally you are over a barrel,wanting to do your best and respect the deceased but in many cases financial structures play a big part.
And as for Funeral Plans ! You can hardly turn on the TV without being reminded  should you think twice about booking a holiday !
Viktoria.

[pinefamily]

Indeed, what happens to the bones? I know that cremation practices have not always been as good as they say. My uncle was cremated in 1979, and his ashes put into a wall with a plaque. When his wife passed away in the late 90's, their daughter, my cousin, was told that her ashes could not be put next to his as there were too many ashes to fit that wall. When she asked why, she was told that the bones were burnt as well at that time. So what happened to my uncle's bones?