Hope this is not too morbid.
There is air space in a closed coffin. Sooner or later the coffin is going to rot.
Wouldn’t most gravesites have an indentation when the ground settles?
:eek: :rolleyes:
Hope this is not too morbid.
There is air space in a closed coffin. Sooner or later the coffin is going to rot.
Wouldn’t most gravesites have an indentation when the ground settles?
:eek: :rolleyes:
If you look at old cemetaries in the USA, you will find indentations at grave sites. Newer cemetaries have been filled with concrete or steel caskets, which are strong enough to hold up for much longer.
Yeah, Dogface, I have noticed that in older graveyards. That was what got me wondering?
So they top off the Grave with concrete, and then dirt?
In PA they put a concrete box in the hole, then the casket in the box, then drop a lid on the box.
The indentation can also partly be caused by the difficulty in returning loose soil to the hole it came out of - it won’t necessarily pack in there neatly.
If you dig a hole, add a coffin and refill to level, the indentation will happen because of:
a) The soil settling back down
b) The coffin collapsing
If you dig a hole, add a coffin and replace all the soil, there should be a persistent mound because:
a) Until the soil settles, it occupies a greater volume
b) even when the coffin collapses and the soil has settled, there is still more in the hole(i.e. the added contents comprising of human remains and coffin) than there was before you dug it.
And I guess in Florida they just throw them in the back yard. That was Florida wasn’t it?
But why aren’t bodies just burried in a carboard box or something biodegradable?
There isn’t anything in a human that could damage ground water or contaminate i would think.
I suppose you wouldn’t want embalming fluid (formaldehyde) to enter the groundwater in mass quantities.
Effac: I believe that cardboard coffine are widely available, well they are in the UK anyway.
As for there being nothing in a human body to damage ground water etc, you aint met my GF
That’s coffin you bloody idiot:smack:
IIRC, not a very high proportion of bodies are embalmed here in the UK and there are some ‘eco-friendly’ burial methods available - such as ‘forest burial’ where the body is interred in woodland in a biodegradable cardboard (or even wicker basket) coffin and the grave is left unmarked.
I was surprised to find out they embalm bodies in Murica when watching Six Feet Under I think was the name.
The grave is marked by planting a tree on it with a small engraved name plate. There is one of these “green” cemeteries in Manningtree ,Essex.
I was all set to post a new thread with my question, but it seems somewhat related, so I’ll ask it here.
If the casket or the concrete box is a fairly good seal, I assume no air can get in or out. Does this mean the body rots anaerobically? I suppose when it comes down to it I won’t mind, but I think I’d rather be worm food than a black puddle, personally. But maybe I don’t have a choice.
So what happens to the bodies in the coffin?