In many parts of the world graves are routinely reused after a period of time
when all surviving relatives may be considered to be dead and gone. Yes, the
remains are removed and stored elsewhere, usually respectfully - you may have
seen images of those ancient ossuaries which are so popular in da Vinci Code
style movies. In places like Venice where land is at a premium, a grave is
virtually rented for twenty years or so until the remains are relocated.
Cemeteries were normally placed well beyond the town limits and I've seen many
rural communities with a cemetery some kilometres down the road but as the
urban sprawl continues relentlessly, it can swallow up old cemeteries and
no-one wants to live next to one. The value of the land escalates and at some
point, if there is no-one left to object, an entire cemetery may be relocated.
Rural burial grounds tend to survive better and be better maintained. Some time
ago I visited a friend living in a rented barn, an artist, and noti
ced to my surprise that some of the paving stones on a pathway were pieces of
broken gravestones, with identifiable names. Hell may be for eternity but a
gravesite is not.
When someone requested a gothic cemetery shoot recently, I was surprised how
few conventional burial grounds there were in the city area - and all full. And
we aren't exactly crowded here. Cremation has become the norm now as few people
can afford urban burial. Vertical burials have been suggested as a partial
solution.
Andrew Fildes
afildes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.soultheft.com
Author/Publisher:
The SLR Compendium:
revised edition -
http://blur.by/19Hb8or
The TLR Compendium
http://blur.by/1eDpqN7
On 07/01/2014, at 7:56 AM, Chris Crawford wrote:
> So, how is a grave reused? Do they pull out the body, and replace it with
> a new one, or do they stack more coffins on top of the old ones?
--
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