Eh, not as bad as the burials of my aunt and uncle. My cousins sat in their cars and watched men in hazmat suits dump the coffins into the ground. That was really horrible.
What was worst, for all those deaths, and also when my mom died, was that we couldn’t have a funeral in person. (Those three because of general risk, for my mom, last January, because she died of covid and all the principal mourners were quarantining.)
We did have nice family gatherings to scatter the ashes of my mil, and later, of my mom. But people should have friends and family close enough to hug them when they are mourning.
Also many countries require embalming (or cremation) to transport the deceased internationally. There’s apparently one funeral home in Chicago that does a brisk business in transporting deceased Mexicans back to their home villages. Here’s the whole story. (One of my former co-workers had to deal with burying her mother’s ashes in Mexio.)
I think the benefit of lead is that the weight of the lid will squash the lead to fit the space so no need for melting it.
Also that its going to last quite a while, its not leather or rubber or anything biological that might not last long
And the lead seal isn’t perfect, its imperfect just the right amount to prevent explosion, where a build up of pressure breaks the seal and then a lot of gas comes out all at once.