Until the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, embalming of bodies was not common. His embalming and funeral trip by train changed attitudes.
One who is interested in the history and art of cemeteries, funerals, and gravestones is known as a taphophile.
The Native Americans of the Plains and Pacific Northwest practiced above-ground burials using trees, scaffolds, canoes, and boxes on stilts. The Native Americans of the Mississippi region used chambered mounds and crematory mounds of a permanent construction.
A "pall" refers to a coffin or casket that's being used to transport a deceased person. This term is also used to describe the cloth often used to cover the coffin during the funeral service.
During the Civil War, embalming was the chosen method that people used to preserve the bodies of dead soldiers before they were sent home. However, the public did not truly begin to accept this practice until President Lincoln's body was preserved through embalming and toured the country on a funeral train.
Did you know that cremation is often more environmentally friendly than burial is? One of the main concerns with burial is the amount of space it requires, especially in crowded countries like Japan where cemeteries have run out of permanent space.
