Burial practices

Funerary landscapes: This topic explores the physical setting of burials such as graveyards, tombs, and monuments, as well as the natural surroundings that may influence burial practices.

Body treatment: This refers to the treatment of the dead person's body before burial, including washing, dressing, and sometimes decoration.

Coffins and sarcophagi: Funerary containers are significant in that they can be used to explore style, aesthetics and social standing.

Grave goods: This includes objects placed in the grave for the use of the dead person in the afterlife.

Rituals: This topic covers the religious and cultural practices that are associated with burials, such as the preparation of offerings for the dead.

Burial customs: This is a broader category that comprises many of the above subjects and also takes into account regional or cultural differences.

Cremation practices: This is the process of reducing a corpse to ashes, studied also in the interment or inurnment of said ashes.

Death beliefs and cosmologies: This revolves around beliefs and customs around death, the afterlife, and the supernatural in the cultural context.

Death and mourning customs, such as funerary meals or mourning garments.: Death and mourning customs in Classics refer to the various rituals and practices surrounding burial, including funerary meals and the wearing of mourning garments, which are aimed at honoring and remembering the deceased.

The history and evolution of burial practices in different regions and historical periods, such as the burial practices of Ancient Egypt, Greece or Rome.: The history and evolution of burial practices in different regions and historical periods explores the cultural significance and customs surrounding the burial of the deceased, examining practices ranging from the elaborate rituals and elaborate tombs of Ancient Egypt to the cremation and communal graveyards of Ancient Greece and Rome.

Archaeological methods and techniques used to study burials, such as excavation techniques and analysis of burials.: Archaeological methods and techniques in the study of burials involve the excavation and analysis of burial sites to provide insights into ancient burial practices, social structures, and cultural beliefs.

Bio-archaeology: This field involves the study of skeletal remains to understand the physical characteristics and pathologies of the ancient inhabitants.

Osteology: This encompasses the analysis of the bones, including their structure and shape, and what this can reveal about the dead.

Anthropology: The study of human cultures, behaviors and societies, including the way they experience death, burial and what they do with the earthly remains.

Ethnography: This involves living groups' cultural practices surrounding death and dying, and how burial practices today are influenced by social dynamics.

Inhumation Burial: This is the most common and well-known type of burial. The body is placed in a grave and covered with soil.

Cremation Burial: The body is cremated and the ashes are placed in a container, often an urn, and buried.

Mummification: This process involves preserving the body in a way that it does not decay. The practice was mostly prevalent in Egypt.

Secondary Burial: The practice involves burying the body post decomposition, in a different location from the original burial.

Tree Burial: Sometimes the body is placed in a hollow trunk of a tree and buried at its base.

Sky Burial: It is a Tibetan practice where the body is cut into small pieces and left on a mountaintop, offering it to birds of prey.

Water Burial: Bodies are placed in a water body like a river or sea, and it is believed that the spirits of the deceased can travel to an afterlife.

Anatomical Burial: Bodies are used for dissection and medical research after death.

Crypt Burial: A crypt is an underground room or vault used for burying the dead.

Ground Tomb Burial: The body is placed in a tomb or sarcophagus, above the ground level.

Mausoleum: This is a large, free-standing monument that houses the bodies of the dead.

Natural Burial: It is an environmentally sustainable mode of burial. In this, the body is placed in a biodegradable container and buried in a natural setting.

Immurement Burial: The practice involves burying the body in a wall or a structure.

Burial at sea: It is a naval custom of disposing of bodies into the sea post their death.

Funerary Pyre: A funerary pyre is a structure where the body is burnt post-death.

Bog Body Burial: It is a practice where a body is buried in a bog, and the acidity in the bog helps in preservation.

Plastination: This modern practice involves preserving the body by replacing fluids and tissues with plastic materials.