Sometimes, cemetery owners can dig themselves a hole they can‘t get out of. This isn’t an article about excessively deep graves, but the legal trouble that some cemeteries have created for themselves through greed, neglect, and disrespect for the dearly departed. Dangerous Graves While visiting a loved one’s grave can bring closure and healing, for... Continue Reading →
The Facebook walls of the dearly departed often function as digital gravesites where friends and family can share photos, speak to the deceased, and mourn. Who, if anyone, has access to your online tombstone and the data it contains? Opening access to the dead’s accounts has the potential for thoughtful curation, but that comes with... Continue Reading →
When thinking of prehistoric technological innovations, inventions like stone tools and permanent houses usually come to mind. But the cemetery is an invention, a place specifically used for the ritual burial of the dead. Ancient hunter-gatherers buried their dead beside their houses and left them behind when they moved. Since they were semi-nomadic, they did... Continue Reading →
Death is one of the few universal problems that all cultures must confront. The way a culture solves the problem of death is deeply rooted in their values about the meaning of life and their beliefs in what will happen after death. When a death occurs in an Islamic community, funeral rituals affirm the dignity and... Continue Reading →
Funeral and burial rituals are often an expression of love by the community. But if the deceased was an outsider or rule breaker, these rituals may be inappropriate. Still, something must be done with the bodies of social outcasts. To solve this dilemma, cultures throughout history and today use subverted or alternative burial rituals to make... Continue Reading →
These days, DIY is all the rage. From home wedding Pintrest pages to YouTube tutorials about tiny homes, the information age has empowered us to roll up our sleeves and get our hands messy. Besides being able to put your own creative spin on the project, doing things yourself also saves big bucks. Conventional funerals, on... Continue Reading →
When winds howl and the sea surges, hurricanes can do terrific damage not only to the places of the living but also to the resting places of the dead. Trees fall, shrubs drown in salt water, and tidal surges deposit building rubble, cars, and boats in cemetery grounds. But the cemetery groundskeeper and family plot... Continue Reading →
Depending on your point of view, living next to a cemetery can give your property a spooky thrill or a peaceful atmosphere. But most people in Western culture would balk at taking up residence inside a cemetery, at least until the move would be six feet under. For thousands of people in the Philippines, day-to-day... Continue Reading →
The story of the Pilgrims takes center stage in our national imagination of the United States. In kindergartens across the country, kids don paper bonnets and buckled hats and color smiling colonists sharing meals with smiling Native Americans. As a child growing up in New England, I attended my share of field trips to Plymouth Plantations... Continue Reading →
The inner workings of the human anatomy have fascinated scientific minds for thousands of years. The trouble is, the inner workings only keep working when they stay inner; if you try to watch them in action people might call you names like “the Ripper” or “murderer.” Dead bodies, therefore, are the go-to resource for the... Continue Reading →
Playing Marbles for Keeps 