Cemetery

A cemetery is a plot of land set aside for the interment, or burial, of deceased persons. On the most practical level, a cemetery's primary purpose is to serve as a location for the disposal of human remains. Socially, cemeteries also provide the bereaved with a place to memorialize and visit their deceased loved ones. In many cemeteries, burial sites are typically denoted with grave markers or tombstones that identify the deceased and serve as a memorial. Family members of the deceased also often plant flowers or decorate graves in memory of their loved ones. Cemeteries may offer different types of burial spaces for different types of interment. While burial plots that include a small space of land in which a casket or coffin is buried is the most common type of burial space, cemeteries may also include mausoleums for aboveground interment or smaller burial spaces for the interment of the remains of people who have been cremated.

Brief History

The modern cemetery is a relatively recent development in the evolution of human burial practices. Humans first began burying their dead in prehistoric times. Many of the earliest known burial practices are those associated with the ancient Egyptians, who famously buried their dead in large and elaborate pyramids. In other early civilizations, people also interred their dead in burial grounds, often leaving objects like jewelry, tools, ceramic vessels, and weapons in the graves of the deceased. Like modern cemeteries, ancient burial sites also sometimes included various types of grave markers or some other means of acknowledging the burial site.

By the Middle Ages, the spread of Christianity changed the way human remains were disposed of throughout much of Europe. In those days, most European burials took place in special burial grounds that surrounded churches. These grounds were often referred to as graveyards or churchyards. Most churchyard burials were basic inhumations, which meant that a person's remains were simply deposited in an earthen hole and buried. Only the wealthiest members of society were buried in coffins upon their deaths. Over time, churchyard burials began to become problematic for many European communities. Because most churches were located within the limits of populated cities and towns, most churchyards were also located within these limits. As the number of deceased people in need of burial inevitably increased, the amount of available space for interment rapidly decreased.

Although many churches attempted to alleviate this problem by only leaving bodies interred until they fully decayed and moving the remaining bones elsewhere to free up space, this eventually caused even worse problems. As the number of deceased grew, churchyards could not keep up with the demand for space and eventually began burying bodies in mass graves with too little backfill between them to allow for proper decomposition. This led churchyards to become a major health hazards at a time when society was already struggling to contain the spread of diseases. In an effort to resolve this problem, communities in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries began burying their dead in new graveyards built on open lands outside cities and towns. These graveyards subsequently became the earliest versions of modern cemeteries.

Overview

In both Europe and North America, most of the cemeteries built in the nineteenth century were garden cemeteries. Because they were typically located in the countryside just outside of towns, these cemeteries evolved into spaces that were as much for the living as they were for the dead. People wishing to enjoy the outdoors away from the crowded streets of cities and towns often turned to idyllic garden cemeteries for recreation and relaxation. In many cases, garden cemeteries became a hub of social activity, and they were often treated like parks and used as a setting for picnics and other get-togethers.

Around the start of the twentieth century, garden cemeteries began to be replaced by modern cemeteries. Rather than providing a space for social activity, these cemeteries instead focused on efficient operation and profitability. In the United States, the first cemetery of this kind was Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California. After Dr. Hubert Eaton purchased the original Forest Lawn graveyard in 1917, he spent decades transforming it into a model of cemetery efficiency. Among other things, he eschewed traditional tombstones in favor of flat bronze grave markers so that the entire greenspace of the cemetery could be trimmed with rotary blade grass cutters. More importantly, these cemeteries turned death into a business, providing their services to those wishing to make preparations for their final resting places by selling burial plots and offering packages to the bereaved that helped to offset the cost of long-term maintenance. Some modern cemeteries even have on-site facilities for cremating the remains of those who choose not to have a traditional burial.

Modern cemeteries offer a variety of interment options. The most common of these is the traditional form of burial, in which a body is placed in a casket and buried in a grave approximately six feet deep. In some cases, buried caskets are sealed inside large concrete burial vaults that protect their contents from damage and prevent embalming fluids from leaching into the ground. Many cemeteries also feature mausoleums, which are small structures that provide spaces for the aboveground interment of human remains. Often, mausoleums are used to house the remains of an entire family. Some cemeteries also include a section of small vaults where cremated remains can be interred.

Many cemeteries are or were segregated in one way or another. Some cemeteries specifically cater to people of certain ethnic or racial backgrounds. Other cemeteries are exclusive to people of a specific religious background, with Catholic cemeteries and Jewish cemeteries being especially common examples. Still other cemeteries are segregated based on the socioeconomic status of those interred. In some cases, different sections of a single cemetery might even be reserved for certain groups of people.

Regardless of the style or location of interment, loved ones of the deceased frequently decorate cemetery gravesites. While these decorations may often be as simple as planted flowers or plants, they may also include things like religious articles, personal belongings, toys, photographs, or anything else that might serve as a reminder of or a tribute to those who have passed away.

Bibliography

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Colman, Penny. Corpses, Coffins, and Crypts: A History of Burial. Henry Holt and Company, Inc., 1997.

Eggener, Keith. Cemeteries. W.W. Norton & Company, 2010.

Greenfield, Rebecca. "Our First Public Parks: The Forgotten History of Cemeteries." The Atlantic, 16 Mar. 2011, www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/03/our-first-public-parks-the-forgotten-history-of-cemeteries/71818/html. Accessed 5 July 2017.

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Kolasa, T. James. "What's the Difference between a Graveyard and a Cemetery." The Candid Cemetery, 19 Jan. 2013, www.thecandidcemetery.com/whats-the-difference-between-a-graveyard-and-a-cemetery/. Accessed 5 July 2017.

Poole, Robert M. "How Arlington National Cemetery Came to Be." Smithsonian Magazine, Nov. 2009, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-arlington-national-cemetery-came-to-be-145147007/. Accessed 5 July 2017.