# Rules about burying people **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 7, 2002, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-about-burying-people/122800 "2002-08-07T16:58:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-about-burying-people/122800/1 "2002-08-07T16:58:26Z")
Although I wouldn’t do this myself, I have acquaintance who may. My question is: is the any rule stating people must be buried clothed? ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-about-burying-people/122800/2 "2002-08-07T17:08:16Z")
Hmm… I don’t know why there would be a law stipulating that… after all, some homeless people, etc. might not have clothes when their found… Especially if it’s closed casket, there shouldn’t be any problem… If it’s open casket, you might have trouble finding a clergy member!! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-about-burying-people/122800/3 "2002-08-07T17:11:16Z")
I don’t know about burying, but it might be a good idea to clothe male deceased for the funeral. _Ahem_ Rigomortise you know.:o ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-about-burying-people/122800/4 "2002-08-07T17:32:57Z")
Yup Peanuthead, THAT could be a problem!!! ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-about-burying-people/122800/5 "2002-08-07T18:27:59Z")
Hmmm… Rigor mortis, nude male… No WONDER people grieve at funerals! \ ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-about-burying-people/122800/6 "2002-08-07T20:30:33Z")
> [@](#): > > Although I wouldn’t do this myself, I have acquaintance who may. My question is: is the any rule stating people must be buried clothed? Am I the only one sick enough to read this as meaning that **erictelevision** would not be buried clothed? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-about-burying-people/122800/7 "2002-08-07T20:40:47Z")
IIRC, in traditional Jewish burials, you are wrapped in sheet and put in the ground. Also, if you don’t have an open casket (a concept I just do not understand) why would it matter if you were as naked leaving the world as you were coming in, or wearing an Armani tux? ---
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-about-burying-people/122800/8 "2002-08-07T21:05:15Z")
More info. here: > **[Funeral Consumers Alliance | Funerals.org](https://funerals.org/)** > > The Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA) is a nonprofit organization that protects consumers' rights to choose meaningful, dignified, affordable funeral. ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-about-burying-people/122800/9 "2002-08-07T21:30:05Z")
:eek: :eek: :eek: You mean _that_ happens to a male after death??? :eek: :eek: My innocence is shredded 😉 ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-about-burying-people/122800/10 "2002-08-07T21:35:58Z")
Chronos, did you red the OP? I SPECIFICALLY said I wouldn’t, but have a acquaintance who might! ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-about-burying-people/122800/11 "2002-08-07T22:17:10Z")
Another related question: I most emphatically don’t want to be embalmed OR cremated. I also don’t want to be buried in a cemetary. A) is this legal? B) can you be buried on private land? C) anything else i’m leaving off ---
**Author:** ![dublos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f08c70/32.png) [@dublos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dublos)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-about-burying-people/122800/12 "2002-08-11T04:10:16Z")
**erictelevision** > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by erictelevision_ > **Chronos, did you red the OP? I SPECIFICALLY said I wouldn’t, but have a acquaintance who might!** Actually, if you look at the section of your OP that Chronos quoted, it is easily interepreted that you are saying that what you **wouldn’t** do is be buried clothed, but your aquaintance might (be buried clothed). From your response it appears that is not what you **ment** , but it is one very easy interpretation from what you **wrote**. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-about-burying-people/122800/13 "2002-08-11T07:20:49Z")
Opal\> I read not too long ago at [www.washingtonpost.com](http://www.washingtonpost.com) a feature on a “green cemetery” somewhere in Virginia… unfortunately a search didn’t turn up the article, and googling produced a lot of hits from the UK, but not from the US. Try searching under “green burial” or “ecological burial”? ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-about-burying-people/122800/14 "2002-08-11T07:30:13Z")
Ahah… > [@](#): > > My Green Heaven > > Burial Alternatives Break New – or No – Ground > Article 1 of 1 found > Don OldenburgWashington Post Staff Writer > March 20, 2002; Page A1 > Section: A > Word Count: 1674 > > Stephen Emery pulled himself slowly down the motorboat’s anchor chain, 20 feet to the dark bottom of Florida’s Sarasota Bay. Above, the choppy waters had made the two-mile ride bumpy and mucked up the water, but as he touched bottom the visibility cleared some, and “there it was,” he recalled. The anchor had hooked into a hole in a large concrete dome, one of four settled into the sand, ranging from two to four feet in diameter. Together they made an artificial reef, Unfortunately, it’s in the archives, so you’ll have to pay a couple bucks to read the rest of the article. But do an archive search on this and it’ll pop up if you want to read it. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-about-burying-people/122800/15 "2002-08-11T07:40:52Z")
Or… Let’s try this again. Google eventually came through for me: > **[Welcome to Memorial Ecosystems](https://www.memorialecosystems.com/)** > > We welcome you to learn more about the Ramsey Creek Preserve and Memorial Ecosystems, Inc., story. > **[Eternal Reefs » Living legacies that memorialize our loved ones](https://www.eternalreefs.com/)** > > Eternal Reefs combines a cremation urn, ash scattering, & green burial at sea into an environmental memorial while creating new marine habitats for sea life ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-about-burying-people/122800/16 "2002-08-11T07:46:59Z")
**Cecil Adams** on [Why are dead bodies embalmed?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a940909b.html) > [@](#): > > If all you want to do is return Aunt Millie to the biomass without putting her on display first, you’re within your rights to refuse embalming. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-about-burying-people/122800/17 "2002-08-11T16:58:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by adam yax \* > \*\*IIRC, in traditional Jewish burials, you are wrapped in sheet and put in the ground. Also, if you don’t have an open casket \*\* Actually **adam yax** , there should be no “if” there. Open casket funerals are a no-no in Judaism. In addition, coffins can be used (all three of my grandparents who have passed on have been buried in them), but they should be of a material that will decompose over time (traditionally just simple plain wood). Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![GopherGod72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f0a364/32.png) [@GopherGod72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GopherGod72)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-about-burying-people/122800/18 "2002-08-11T20:06:04Z")
personally, I would prefer no embalming and no enclosure… maybe wrapped in a sheet and covered with dirt… ashes to ashes dust to dust and all. Would that be legal? I think im remembering some law regarding water table contamination or something… ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-about-burying-people/122800/19 "2002-08-11T21:21:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by OpalCat \* > \*\*Another related question: > > I most emphatically don’t want to be embalmed OR cremated. I also don’t want to be buried in a cemetary. > > A) is this legal? > B) can you be buried on private land? > C) anything else i’m leaving off \*\* In Illinois, there is no requirement to embalm. My sister, who made the arrangements, chose not to have my father embalmed (it cost about $700). It was a mistake. I had to officially ID the body, 5 days after his death. It was not pretty. However, it’s perfectly legal not to. I don’t know about burial on private property. You’ll have to look at your state’s law. It seems it should be possible to get a zoning variance to allow it. I suppose you’d have to demonstrate that the property is likely to have long-term stable ownership. If YOU own the land, and you die, and the estate is liquidated, how would the next owner feel about your corpse in the back yard? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-about-burying-people/122800/20 "2002-08-11T21:23:55Z")
Oh yeah, I forgot, if the crematorium in TN(?) GA(?) ever reopens, have yourself sent there – odds are you won’t be cremated, or even buried at all, just dropped out back for the critters. ☹ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-about-burying-people/122800.md?page=2)