A few suggestions to clarify some points. Barbara Donna wrote: > This is a multi-part message in MIME format. > > --------------7B787148161C > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Hi Listers: > > I was forwarded this from the Westmoreland List. This is quite > lenghthly but is very informative. Just thought some of you may be > interested as I was. > > Sincerely... Donna Heller Zinn of Cumberland Co., PA. > > Resent-Sender: PAWESTMO-L-request@rootsweb.com > > > > 1. I do not know if they dig the bones up or if they are gone at the end of > the time but will find out. Probably depends on the amount of time you > rented your space. A common practice and still in use in many countries. The bones are tossed into a charnel house. In the cemeteries in South America, this is usually just a little block house. > > 2. I am assuming the rental time starts at the time you purchase the lot. > Hadn't really given it any thought before, but that would make sense. I am > sure that if the family keeps renting the space they just go on top of each > other. You have to pay a yearly maintenance fee in the older cemeteries. If you don't pay it (I don't know if there is a specific time period for lapsed payments) then the space is emptied and used for someone else. > > 3. One answer said that in England they consider embalming barbaric so they > probably don't do it. Particularly today as very environment conscious and > that would be putting chemicals in the soil. Many countries do not use embalming. We seem to have a fascination with this in the US. Most countries have a law about how soon you have to bury the person after death. In South America it's within 24/48 hrs (I have to admit I'm a little hazy here as to which it is) > > 4. Other answers brought out the way of the Indians who built pyres and > burned their ancestors. Some Indian Tribes put them on the platform in the > air and left them. When an Eskimo outlived their usefulness to the > community, they just went into the wilderness to die. Don't confuse the people from India with the N & S American Indians. The Indians from India.... cremation depends on your religion. I believe you'll find it's the Hindus that use it. There is one religious sect that exposes the dead bodies on elevated towers for the vultures to pick clean. There are a wide variety of burial practices among the natives of North and South America. > > Czechoslovakia was about the same except that I found so many tombstones that > had pictures of the deceased on them. I have also seen this at the Czech > cemeteries in this country. I find this really great. A lot of the > cemeteries in Czechoslovakia had a big stone and were usually covered totally > with a large granite slab. Then there were sitting on the slab several small > urn types for those who were cremated - again with pictures. I did a study some years ago about tombs and funeral decorations. You'll find that the styles change from decade to decade. One reason for the large slabs covering the tombs is to try and avoid vandals. > Paris- When Napoleon rebuilt the city he had to dig up many many cemeteries. > He left a beautiful city. At least he didn't build over them. All the bones > from each cemetery was kept together and put in the Catacombs under the city > and each labeled as to what cemetery they came from and years of use and > anything else they might know. > > The Catacombs in Paris were created on purpose. A gentleman that had visited the Catacombs in Rome thought Paris should such a thing too. An old salt mine was used. As the city expanded and cemeteries were dug up, the bones were piled in these abandoned salt tunnels. > > > One more part of the world and I will quit. As you know the Orient has a bad > population problem and woman are not allowed to choose how many children they > can have in many of the countries. I'd have to check, but I believe China is the only one that enforces the amount of children allowed. Usually just one child per couple.