# Laws on funeral practices?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-on-funeral-practices/385391>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 23, 2006, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-on-funeral-practices/385391 "2006-12-23T23:41:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mchash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@mchash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mchash)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2006, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-on-funeral-practices/385391/1 "2006-12-23T23:41:24Z")

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Is there any information online about holding a funeral pyre for the deceased? Modern crematoriums are too _automatic_ and a traditional public pyre would be a pretty interesting way to go. I’m sure there are specific laws per state, but is there any information source that can debunk whether or not they can be held in simliar fashion that was done by ancient civilizations?

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**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\
**Post date:** [December 24, 2006, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-on-funeral-practices/385391/2 "2006-12-24T04:50:52Z")

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My father’s a mortician, so if you like I could ask him, but I’m guessing that most states would outlaw an old-fashioned pyre. Health reasons, safety, and because a pyre wouldn’t be all that efficient-the human body is very hard to destroy by fire.