# Six feet under **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [November 13, 2007, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-feet-under/426274 "2007-11-13T18:38:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-feet-under/426274/1 "2007-11-13T18:38:42Z")
Lots of the references in this Staff Report indicate that caskets must be covered with _x_ amount of earth. That’s not the same thing as an _x_-foot grave, right? I always imagine the depth of a grave being the dug depth, with the casket occupying part of that. So a one meter Canadian grave actually does approach six feet, right? Now, is there a standard height of caskets such that the grave digger knows what’s needed to meet the minimum? What about states that required vaults? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-feet-under/426274/2 "2007-11-13T21:32:52Z")
I just wanted to comment that it’s completely appropriate for someone named **“Rico”** to be answering the question. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-feet-under/426274/3 "2007-11-13T23:06:09Z")
LOL - never thought of that, **Chefguy** … Then again, I see your point… **Balthisar** , [the average height of a casket is 23 inches](http://www.pinellofuneralhome.com/askexperts/dimension.html). The smallest I saw was 17 inches. So let’s round it off to 2 feet. 1 meter is approximately 3 feet, 3 inches. So it would be just under 6 feet in Canada. In California, however, it would be only 3 1/2 feet. Quite a bit under 6 feet. ---
**Author:** ![joegottman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@joegottman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joegottman)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-feet-under/426274/4 "2007-11-14T02:09:14Z")
One nitpick. The article says that "in the typical modern burial, the body is pumped full of toxic embalming chemicals ". This isn’t always the case. In particular, in both the Jewish and the Moslem traditions embalming is forbidden. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-feet-under/426274/5 "2007-11-14T04:43:26Z")
[The article.](http://straightdope.com/mailbag/mburial.html) Also, it appears that the Canadian burial act **Rico** linked ([http://www.canlii.org/qc/laws/sta/i-11/20050809/whole.html](http://www.canlii.org/qc/laws/sta/i-11/20050809/whole.html)) is actually the Quebec burial act. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-feet-under/426274/6 "2007-11-14T05:18:35Z")
An old friend of mine worked as a grave digger for a few years, and he said it’s four feet in Indiana. He is now under the sod, presumably four feet down. I have some contacts in the industry. I’ll check with them to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![Sunrazor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-feet-under/426274/7 "2007-11-14T13:25:04Z")
I’ve always thought Cecil & Co.'s research was pretty thorough, but I was very impressed with his citation of Dafoe’s “Journal of the Plague Year.” Before I read the book and wrote a paper on it last spring in graduate school, I’d never heard of it. Good job! ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-feet-under/426274/8 "2007-11-14T16:29:56Z")
[QUOTE=severus] [The article.](http://straightdope.com/mailbag/mburial.html) Also, it appears that the Canadian burial act **Rico** linked ([http://www.canlii.org/qc/laws/sta/i-11/20050809/whole.html](http://www.canlii.org/qc/laws/sta/i-11/20050809/whole.html)) is actually the Quebec burial act. [/QUOTE] Yeah, here’s the relevant [Ontario regulation](http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/regs/english/elaws_regs_920130_e.htm#BK3), which specifies that “(2) The owner shall ensure that interred human remains that are not cremated are buried at least .61 metres (two feet) beneath the natural level of the ground surface.” ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-feet-under/426274/9 "2007-11-14T18:37:13Z")
Leave it to an American to think that Quebec regulations applied to all of Canada. My apologies - I’ll see if it can be edited. ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-feet-under/426274/10 "2007-11-14T19:04:43Z")
[QUOTE=Rico] Leave it to an American to think that Quebec regulations applied to all of Canada. My apologies - I’ll see if it can be edited. [/QUOTE] No need to apologize. The ways Canadian jurisdictions work isn’t particularly intuitive.