Publication: The Straight Dope
Author: Staff Reporter
Date: May 2, 2006
Article Excerpt:
…How long after death does Mr. Sleazy Developer have to wait until I can be legally evicted from my lovely pond-front cemetery plot?…
…Are most cemeteries owned by cities or counties? If not, how do private owners afford to keep the lawns mowed and the flowers planted?…
…If we all have to die, and there are billions of people on this earth, and the majority of us get buried, where are they going to put us all? Won’t we run out of room eventually and have to start burying us on top of each other?…
There has been a number of cases in which shady gravekeepers have, without just cause, moved the remains of old “tenants” to make room for more. The fact of the matter is, is that this act is against the law. As long as the gravekeeper isnt super mean, you should be safe in your eternal slumber. To answer your next question, many cemetaries are privately owned, although city, county and state cemetaries are all over the place. I know its a harsh answer, but many times when a graveyard is full and no income is being generated by new plots, the land often is just left to rot. City, state and county graveyards are kept through the taxes you pay but they are not as often located on a gorgeous piece of land. To answer your final question is a little intriguing. There are several ways a body is disposed of. The most common, of course is burial. Another common method of body disposal is cremation. The body of the deseaced is placed into a gas oven and burned into ashes that are typically place in an urn. One not-so-common way of burial is called a sky burial. The body is cut into pieces and scattered around a mountain plateau for consumption by other animals, giving back to the circle of life. Burials by sea and space are preformed by spreading the ashes of the dearly departed either into the sea, or into the high reaches of outerspace via rocket. Many people donate their body to.what is known as a body farm. Scientist leave the bodies to decompose in a secluded feild to better their knowledge of the way a body decomposes naturally. As you can see there are many alternatives to burial.