Often, human people looked for ways and opportunities not to end up in the damp earth: someone is scared, others are afraid of decomposition, and someone just wants to try the funerary "novelty", although they cannot tell about the sensations. How cremation takes place and why it is needed is described and described in detail in the article.
What is cremation?
Cremation is the turning of a body into ashes. This is done in a very specific sanitary environment, using equipment that "helps" reduce the human body to ashes by exposure to high temperatures. When the process is complete, the cremated remains can be kept in an urn, made into jewelry, scattered in a favorite spot, or buried in a cemetery. These are some of the more common arrangements for cremated remains, but in fact, some families have more options, including getting ash tattoos.
This is mostly common in the USA. Cremation in Russia is a rare pleasure for the deceased and relatives due topricing policy.
What are the benefits of cremation?
There has always been a constant debate: cremation vs. burial. The graphic below shows how cremation has steadily grown in popularity in the United States over the past 50 years. In 2015, the level of burnt bodies exceeded the level of burial for the first time. Also, the forecast on the chart does not show a slowdown in the popularity of cremation. By 2035, more than 75% of Americans are predicted to choose this type of farewell to the world over burial.
Many people consider cremation a "greener alternative" than burial because they know how cremation works: there is no decomposition in the procedure:
- Burial facilities often use harsh chemicals to embalm the remains for the funeral service. This leads to concerns that chemicals may pollute the environment.
- While the crematorium does emit emissions, new equipment is constantly being developed to reduce pollution and environmental impact.
- A cremation service offers a much simpler process than a burial service. As a rule, when people choose to bury their loved one, they order traditional funeral services along with the accepted ritual rites.
- Some people still choose to have a traditional funeral along with cremation, hold memorial services.
There are two options for burial - burial underground on the site or placing the coffin in the mausoleum. Cremationgives several options in terms of what can be done with the ashes of a loved one. You can scatter the ashes in a special place, store them in a beautiful urn, some of them in memorial decorations. Americans even set off fireworks from the ashes of the deceased.
Preparation
The process of cremation of a dead body is carried out at a temperature ranging from 1400 to 1800 degrees Fahrenheit (+760-982⁰). The intense heat helps bring the body to the point where the bone fragments dry out.
The process takes place in a cremation chamber, also known as a crematorium retort. It is preheated to a predetermined value, and then the human body is placed and quickly transferred inside through a mechanized door to avoid heat loss.
Here is a video showing the cremation of the human body.
The duration of the process usually depends on certain factors. They are:
- body weight or size;
- body fat percentage for muscle mass;
- equipment performance;
- cremation chamber operating temperature;
- a type of cremation container or casket containing a body.
Based on this, we can assume how cremation goes, how responsible it is. Judging by the video, it is impossible to be sure that the entire human body will be burned and placed in an urn.
What is the sequence of the procedure?
During incineration, the body is exposed toa column of flame formed in a furnace running on natural gas, oils, propane. When a corpse is placed in a coffin or container (preferably made from combustible material), the container is burned. The heat then dries out the body, burns the skin and hair, contracts and envelops the muscles, vaporizes the soft tissues, and calcifies the bones so that they eventually crumble. The gases released during the process are released through the exhaust system. Features:
- The bodies are mostly burned one at a time. There is no smell because the emissions are treated with special solutions to extinguish the formation of any by-products.
- Some crematoria have a secondary afterburner where the body is re-burned. Otherwise, the cremation technique will require an addition - crushing the scorched bones of the skull. The remains are ground to dust.
- Tiny remains may still remain in the chamber and mix with particles from subsequent cremations. However, they also contain unspent metal objects such as screws, nails, hinges, and other parts of the coffin or container.
- In addition, the mixture may contain dental materials, dental gold, surgical screws, dentures, implants, etc. These items are removed with strong magnets and/or forceps after manual inspection. All metals are subsequently disposed of in accordance with local regulations.
Mechanical devices such as pacemakers are removed early because they canexplode due to extreme heat and damage equipment and personnel. How it happens, the cremation of a person and his remains, is already clear. This is followed by the final moment.
The final stage of cremation
Finally, the dried bone fragments are further ground to a finer, sandy consistency. The machine used for this grinding is called a cremulator.
These remains are placed in an urn and given to a relative or representative of the deceased. If there is no urn, the crematorium may return the ashes to the default plastic box or container. Now we know how it happens. Human cremation also has alternatives that are similar in procedure.
How long ago was cremation "invented"?
Of course, burning the dead is not a new concept, it was a long time ago. Cremation began in the Stone Age and was common, though not universal, in ancient Greece and Rome. In some religions, such as Hinduism and Jainism, cremation is not only permitted but preferred.
The emergence of Christianity hindered the practice in the West. Back in 330 AD, when Emperor Constantine adopted Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire, Rome banned cremation as a pagan practice.
The theological reason for the ban was related to the resurrection: it was good to keep the body whole or in one place. Through the Reformation, the Catholic Church "frowned" or forbade cremation, although the procedure was used for reasons of punishment and hygiene. Jewish law also forbade this practice. By the 5th century the procedurevirtually disappeared from Europe. Understanding how cremation takes place, only one concern for the environment is enough. Then they did not think about her, relying only on personal considerations, trusting in God.
How long does the procedure take?
On average, cremation of a human body takes one to three hours, reducing it to 1.5-3.2 kg of cremalin (ash). The remains are usually greyish in color. You can find out how long the cremation takes in advance, but the exact time can be told after the death of a person.
Cost of an "expensive" death
Not every modern person knows how much cremation costs. In the US in the last century, a family was willing to pay about $5 for it. Now the price has increased to 500 units. In Russia, crematoria value their work at tens of thousands of rubles. The cost (in rubles) is formed from several indicators:
| Cremation | from 3500 |
| Etched urn | 1200-1400 |
| Movers Services | from 4000 |
| Capsule | 200-500 |
| Funeral service in the hall | 2000 |
In fact, the minimum price for such a service does not reach 10 thousand rubles. Now, knowing how much cremation costs, you can compare the price tags of funeral homes. True, the ethical side of the issue has not yet been resolved, and families have no idea where they can go to “talk” with a deceased relative (if the ashes are dispelled).
Somehow earlier, in 2016, inthe cremation center of the Arkhangelsk region received a call from a journalist-reporter who, under the guise of a client, was interested in the price of services.
He was told the amount of 7100 rubles - for music and registration. Additionally for the transfer of the coffin, farewell funeral service and some additional services. Separately, you need to buy only the urn. We need to buy transport. The final price will be reported in the Unified Funeral Service. Everything is turnkey here.
Later the cost of services increased and amounted to 18,000 rubles - this is a coffin and transportation of a corpse. You need to buy a pillow and slippers separately, because it is customary for Christians to bring slippers to cremation in slippers. On average, you need to spend about 30,000 rubles.
Only here the place for the urn is not free. It is like a sarcophagus made of stone, round and in several rows. The lower ones cost from 70,000 rubles. The latter is at the level of the mezzanine in the corridor, even more expensive, away from the ground. Separately, you need to pay for a plate - 5,000 rubles, and an engraving on a monument the size of 2-3 standard printed photos - almost 10,000 rubles.
Funeral services "from the outback" offer for 20,000 rubles to organize a family funeral for several people at once. And this is with a click, and the place is free.
Hydrolysis is an alternative to cremation
Cremation of the dead is not the last thing that can be considered modern in Moscow. There is also the hydrolysis of the body of the deceased, when those "dissolved in eternity" fall into the water element. This is resomation: the body is sent to the resomator, where it decomposes in 3-4 hours. No gas emissionsenvironmentally friendly procedure and quite inexpensive. A chamber is filled with a solution of potassium hydroxide, in which the pressure rises to 10 units and the temperature to 180 °C. There is demineralization of hard tissues, dissolution of soft ones.
After cooling, the remains are removed and dried in an oven for 10 minutes. Also ground into powder if there are undissolved particles.
Burial cannot be cremated: church opinion
The Orthodox Church was skeptical about this method of burial. It was not clear what to do after the cremation of a person, how to come to him to the "grave". You can't just bury the urn. If relatives divide the ashes and let them go to the wind, then no memory will remain.
Here's what the Council of Bishops says:
If we assume that in ancient times a Christian treated the temple of the Holy Spirit with reverence, today the Holy Synod allows only one burial standard - burial in the ground. Cremation is outside the Orthodox tradition. At the end there is a resurrection. If cremation is allowed, then we refuse the God who allowed Christ to be resurrected in body and soul.
It turns out that it's all about faith, because it is she who makes us believe in life after death. If you delve into the Bible, then it forbids thinking that there is something after physiological death or reincarnation. And here it is stated that a person renounces religion by cremation, because he has ceased to believe that he can be resurrected. These contradictions push citizensnot only to move to a more "convenient parting angle", but also to take the side of environmentalists.
Attitude towards world traditions
In Europe, the attitude towards cremation is still ambivalent: someone believes in death and the end of life, someone does not want to rot in the ground for 10-20 years, while others are afraid of the dark. Although after life everything will be different (no one knows how). Young people in Russia want to use the method of burial as an alternative: to stand on a shelf to admire, because the mausoleum is too honorable a pleasure. The price is almost the same, but you can find a cemetery where they will agree to place the urn with the ashes just on a shelf without plates, inscriptions and photos.
