Why "Six Feet Under"?

[belladonna]

Where, when, and how did the depth of six feet become the norm for burying our dead? Are coffins really buried this deep or is it just a common misconception? How consistent of a measurement is it worldwide among those who bury their dead as opposed to cremating or entombing them?

[Duck_Duck_Goose]

Well, browsing around on Google, under “depth burial funeral”, brings up a bunch of miscellaneous stuff.

http://www.nysfda.org/NYScemet.htm

Is there any state requirement on the depth a grave?

There is no state requirement specifying the depth of a grave, although there may be local regulations that apply. For example, the City of New York’s Department of Health requires that, when human remains are buried in the ground without a concrete vault, the top of the coffin or casket must be at least three feet below the level of the ground (two feet in the case of a vaulted burial).

There is something called a “double depth burial”.
http://www.icfa.org/cemeteries.htm#cemeteries14

What is double depth?

Many cemeteries either allow for the burial of two caskets in a grave or have specific sections where this type of grave is available. Double depth just means that one casket is placed in the grave at an approximate depth of seven feet. When a second interment is required, the second casket is placed on top of the first casket at standard depth.

http://www.rollinsfuneralhome.com/FunPlanning.html

Single depth lots are used for a single or a companion burial at a six foot depth. Companion lots allow for two side by side burials. Double depth lots are available in which the first burial is placed at a depth of eight feet and the second burial is placed on top at a depth of six feet.

I believe the “six feet under” thing was just a general rule of thumb, for the purpose of making sure the corpse was buried deep enough so that scavengers couldn’t dig it up again.

[Mangetout]

I think it may stem from the fact that it becomes significantly harder to continue (manually)digging a hole deeper once you get to the point where you are in over your head.

[belladonna]

Thank you!
I tried google and all I was getting were pages for some band called “six feet under” and ghost story pages. That’ll teach me to give up too soon.

[kanicbird]

Also I seem to recall something about going much deeper might put you below the water table (even thought the WT varries quite a bit depending on where you are and may be very deep)