Cemetery: Encyclopedia - Cemetery

Cemetery

A cemetery is a place (usually an enclosed area of land) in which dead bodies are buried. The term cemetery implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are the place where the final ceremonies of death are observed. These ceremonies or rites differ according to cultural practice and religious belief. Cemeteries are distinguished from other burial grounds by their location; they are usually not adjoined to a church. A graveyard, on the other hand, is located in a churchyard (archaic: kirkyard), although a churchyard can also be any patch of land on church grounds.

Cemetery - General

From about the 7th, European burial was under the control of the church and on consecrated church ground. Practices varied but, in continental Europe, bodies were usually buried in a mass grave until they had decomposed. The bones were then exhumed and stored in ossuaries either along the arcaded bounding walls of the cemetery or within the church under floor slabs and behind walls.

The habit of burying corpses in land enclosed within the city walls had a negative impact on health. As a consequence, some cemeteries were moved away from heavily populated areas. As an example, in the late 18th century, skeletons exhumed from major Paris cemeteries were moved into ossuaries in the Catacombs, and burials were prohibited in inner-city locations.

Cemetery company and municipally owned cemeteries, independent from churches and their churchyards, date largely from the early 19th century, certainly in their landscaped or garden cemetery form, although the cemetery reform movement began c. 1740 and there were a small number of earlier extra-mural burial grounds.

The earliest of the spacious landscaped-style cemeteries is Père Lachaise in Paris. This embodied the idea of state, rather than church, controlled burial; a concept that spread through Europe with the Napoleonic invasions, and sometimes became adapted leading to the opening of cemeteries by private companies. The shift to municipal cemeteries or those established by private companies was usually accompanied by the establishing of spacious, landscaped, burial grounds outside of the city limits.

Cemeteries are usually a respected area, and often include churches or other religious buildings (chapels); and sometimes a crematorium for the burning (cremation) of the dead. The violation of the graves or buildings is usually considered a very serious crime and punishments are often severe.

The style of cemeteries varies greatly internationally. For example, in the USA and many European countries modern cemeteries usually have many tombstones placed on open spaces. In Russia, tombstones are usually placed in small fenced family lots. (This was once common practice in American cemeteries as well, and such fenced family plots are still visible in some older American cemeteries.)

Cemeteries in cities take a lot of valuable urban space, which could become a problem, especially in older cities. As historic cemeteries begin to reach their capacity for full burials, alternative memorialization, such as collective memorials for cremated individuals, is becoming more common. Different cultures have different attitudes to destruction of cemeteries and use of the land for construction. In some countries (examples?) it is considered normal to destroy the graves, while in others the graves are traditionally respected for a century or more. In many cases, after a suitable period of time has elapsed the headstones are removed and the now former cemetery is converted to a recreational park or construction site.

Cemetery - Ancient cemeteries

Many places have been found where ancient people buried their dead. These places could be an organised necropolis or they could be simply areas with highly symbolic elements around (like the Tomb of Giants in Sardinia). The Egyptian pyramids were tombs.

Cemetery - Cemeteries for pets

The Cimetière des Chiens in Asnières-sur-Seine in Paris, is an elaborate, sculpted pet cemetery believed to be the first zoological necropolis in the world. Rin Tin Tin, the famous dog from Hollywood films, is buried here.

Cemetery - Cemeteries and superstition

In many countries, cemeteries are objects of superstition and legend; they are sometimes used (usually at night-time) for black magic ceremonies or similar clandestine happenings. In Haiti the traditional belief regarding zombies as practiced under Voudun religion is connected with burial rituals. It is believed that the zombified individual is buried alive in a coffin in a shallow grave after being given a dosage of tetrodotoxin from the puffer fish to slow his heart so he appears dead even to medical practitioners. After all the burial ceremonies are completed the zombie victim is then dug up and taken into servitude, usually as a punishment for some crime he committed. Some Haitians deny that these practices exist and that these kinds of voodoo practices are pure superstition.

Cemetery - United States

In the United States there are around 109,000 cemeteries recognized by the United States Geological Survey.

See also

• Elephant's graveyard
• List of cemeteries
• List of cemeteries in the United States
• Resurrectionists
• Grave robbing

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Cemetery", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki