History of Cremation

The oldest known archaeological record of cremation is the remains of a body referred to as Mungo Lady. In 1969, geologist Jim Bowler discovered human remains in the Willandra Lakes region of Australia. Scientists estimate the bones could be anywhere from 20,000 to 60,000 years old. Mungo Lady’s exact age remains a subject of intense debate. It is undisputed, however, that the bones show evidence of cremation. A pattern of burn marks on the bone fragments suggests that after the woman died, her body was burned, the bones were smashed, and then the remains were burned a second time as an early form of cremation.

Pyres have been a part of funeral rites throughout many time periods and geographical areas in history. A funeral pyre is a wooden structure on which a body is burned.

Perhaps the origin of this cremation technique, people in India have been performing open air cremations for thousands of years. Hinduism required cremation as it was believed to help with transmigration: the separation of the body from the soul. Hindus believed transmigration was necessary in order for the soul to enter a new body during its next life.

Traditionally, the cremation ground was located near a river, ideally right on the banks. Once a suitable location was found, the corpse was laid on the prepared pyre with its feet facing South so that it could walk in the “direction of the dead.” The closest male relative of the deceased acted as chief mourner and walked around the pyre three times, keeping the body to his left and sprinkling water onto it. Next, he lit a small fire in the mouth of the deceased before the entire structure was set alight with a flaming torch, signaling the beginning of the mourning period. Family and friends waited for the body to be fully consumed by fire before going home. One or two days later, the chief mourner returned to the place of the cremation, collected up any remains and placed them in an urn. Finally, the remains were immersed in the holy waters of the Ganges river, or other local rivers for those who lived too far away.

In many instances, Hindu cremations also included a custom called suttee or sati, which translates as “good woman” or “chaste wife.” The custom was for the widow of the deceased to throw herself onto the funeral pyre of her husband. In some instances this was voluntary, other times the wife would be forced into the flames. Suttee was outlawed in 1829 under British rule.

Vikings, famous for their funeral pyres, once participated in a similar open air cremation ritual, but the tradition ended when Christianity was introduced around 1050 AD. In India, this type of cremation is still practiced today. With both Hindu and Viking funeral pyres, a common reason for cremation and the specific rituals surrounding it was to make sure the spirit of the dead would not return to haunt its successors.

Funeral pyres remained important in future cultures such as ancient Greece and Rome.

The people of ancient Greece practiced ground burial for around 2,000 years before the influence of Asia Minor reached the area and cremation began to appear in about 1200 BC. A few centuries later, cremation had become a common part of the Grecian burial custom. This period is sometimes referred to as the “Urnfield Culture” because modern archaeologists have discovered hundreds of urns placed together that date back to about 1000 BC. By 800 BC, cremation was the dominant mode of disposition in Greece.

One reason the Greek people adopted cremation was to transport soldiers slain in enemy territory back to their homeland, ensuring a proper funeral. Bodies were cremated on the battlefield and the ashes gathered and sent home for a ceremonial entombment.

The ancient Greek poet Homer wrote about cremation in his famous epic, The Iliad, which references cremation and funeral rites at least six times. One example from the poem is when the Greek god Zeus demanded Achilles return Hector’s body so that it could be royally cremated.

Two centuries later, the Roman Empire began to embrace cremation, usually associating the practice with military honours. Roman philosopher Cicero considered burial an archaic rite. He thought upper class citizens and members of imperial families should be cremated.

There was an elaborate process surrounding cremation in ancient Rome. After death, the body was washed and dressed in fine clothes to be displayed in the home. Coins were placed on the face of the deceased in order for them to pay their way across the river Styx when they reached the afterworld. Otherwise, their soul would be forced to wander the shores of the river for one hundred years. A funeral procession followed, culminating with a funeral pyre onto which perfume and sometimes the blood of animals were thrown. Once the cremation was complete, the fire was quenched with wine and the remains were placed in an urn.

Urns in the Roman Empire were generally made of clay or bronze and would often be placed in columbariums to prevent theft and vandalism of the remains. Roman columbariums were partially or fully underground buildings that housed human remains. Today, columbarium usually refers to a free-standing, above-ground outdoor structure.

Jews and early Christians disliked cremation, considering it a pagan ritual. Constantine’s Christianization of Rome in 300 AD meant that cremation was almost entirely replaced by ground burial, driven by the belief that the human body was sacred. Entombment remained the accepted method of disposition for the next 1,500 years. A secondary reason some historians suggest for the disappearance of cremation around this time is the threat of wood shortages due to the building of elaborate funeral pyres.

Cremation was forbidden during this period and involvement in the practice was punishable by death. In addition to being punishable, cremation also served as punishment in Medieval Europe. Heretics were burned at the stake and in some instances even removed from their burial spaces and cremated as a form of post-mortem revenge. In one famous example, preacher John Wycliffe’s remains were exhumed and cremated 44 years after his death to punish him for heresy committed during his life.

Aside from punishing heretics, cremation was used in extreme circumstances such as battle, pestilence and famine that left an overwhelming number of bodies. Many historians believe the line “ashes, ashes we all fall down” from the famous song Ring Around the Rosie refers to cremation during the Black Plague. Others disagree, claiming Christians held fast to their beliefs and refused to cremate their dead even in extreme circumstances.

The French Revolution criticized the Catholic church and its teachings. Freemasons promoted cremation during this period in an attempt to reduce the church’s necessary role in the funeral process. These efforts only caused the Catholic church to increase their opposition of cremation up until the 20th century.

Some Native Americans practiced cremation in the early 19th century, although customs varied widely from tribe to tribe. In 1831, a fur trader named Ross Cox published his observations of a cremation ceremony performed by the Tolkotins of Oregon. According to Cox, after the death of a male tribe member the body was laid out for nine days before being cremated. During this time, the wife of the deceased would sleep next to the body. On the tenth day, the body was placed onto a pile of cyprus sticks and the widow again lied next to it as it was lit on fire, being removed before the flames consumed her. During the cremation process, she reached her hands into the flames two more times in a final, desperate attempt to save her husband. After the fire had extinguished, the widow collected the bones, wrapped them in birch bark and carried them on her back for several years. The ashes were also collected and buried in a grave which the wife tended to diligently, pulling out weeds with her fingers, lest she be beaten by her husband’s remaining relatives.

Members of other tribes were known to throw their most valued possessions into the fire during cremation ceremonies.

Physician Sir Thomas Browne, who lived from 1605 to 1682, was one of the first advocates of cremation in modern times. He discovered a group of urns containing human remains and artifacts believed to be from Roman times, inspiring him to write a book on the subject. In his writing, Browne compared being cremated and placed in an urn to being carried in a mother’s womb saying that it makes “our last bed like our first.”

It wasn’t until nearly 100 years later that the first recorded cremation took place. Honoretta Brooks Pratt died in 1769 and was illegally cremated. Her body was burned in an open grave at St. George’s Burial Ground in London. Her tombstone offers some explanation for her choice of disposition, reading as follows:

“This worthy woman believed that the vapours arising from graves in churchyards in populous cities must prove hurtful to the inhabitants and resolving to extend to future times, as far as she was able, that charity and benevolence which distinguished her through her life, ordered that her body should be burnt in the hope that others would follow the example, a thing to hastily censure by those who did not enquire the motive.”

Nearly a century later, an organized movement began which would finally succeed in popularizing cremation for the modern day, although not without its setbacks.

At the 1873 Vienna Exposition, Professor Brunetti of Italy presented his cremating apparatus along with ashes produced using the machine. His display caught the attention of Sir Henry Thompson, Queen Victoria’s surgeon, who brought the idea back to his home and founded the Cremation Society of England shortly after in 1874. Thompson and his society supported cremation for several reasons: it was believed to be more sanitary and spread less disease, it was less costly, it spared mourners from standing outside during harsh weather, and it kept remains safe from vandalism.It was around this time that American Francis Julius LeMoyne began to hear about the conversation surrounding cremation in Europe and built the first American crematorium in Washington, Pennsylvania in 1876. In the late 19th century, only about one crematorium per year was built in the United States.

The first known European crematoriums were built in 1878 in England and Germany. One year later, Sir Henry Thompson tested his crematorium using the body of a horse. Neighbours did not appreciate the cremation happening nearby and complained to the home secretary. In addition to the opposition of nearby residents, the home secretary feared cremation would be used by murderers to hide evidence of their crimes and forbid the practice altogether. In 1882, the council of the cremation society received a request from Captain Hanham to cremate his deceased wife and mother who had both left explicit instructions to that effect. The home secretary refused to make an exception and the society was unable to assist Captain Hanham in fulfilling his loved ones’ final wishes. Captain Hanham took matters into his own hands, building a crematorium and performing the cremation on his own estate with no consequence.

The process of legalizing cremation was further aided by a Welsh Neo-Druidic priest named William Price. After the death of his first child in 1884, Price cremated the boy’s body to avoid polluting the earth with a ground burial. He was arrested for the illegal disposal of a body but created a precedent during his court case by pointing out that while the law did not state that cremation was legal, it also did not state that it was illegal.

At the start of the 20th century, the parliament of the United Kingdom passed the Cremation Act of 1902, allowing the operation of crematoriums as long as they followed strict guidelines outlining where they could be built and regulations as to the maintenance and inspection of the facilities. Around this time, concerns were growing that people were becoming sick from attending funerals and using water that had been contaminated by cemeteries meaning that many health professionals were early champions for the practice of cremation. In 1910, it was decided that all bodies destined for Westminster Abbey had to be cremated, a rule which still applies today.

The Cremation Association of America was formed in 1913. Many churches came to accept cremation in the early to mid twentieth century, however, the Catholic church remained opposed until 1963 when Pope Paul VI lifted the ban. Three years later, Catholic priests were even allowed to officiate at cremation ceremonies.

Cremation wasn’t legally recognized in the Netherlands until 1955.

The 1960’s saw improvements in the cremation process with coal and coke fuel replaced by oil, natural gas and propane.

In 1975, the Cremation Association of America changed its name to the Cremation Association of North America to better acknowledge members in Canada. In that year, there were over 425 crematories in the area performing 150,000 total cremations.

The Cremation Association of North America, or CANA, reported 59% of Canadian deaths resulted in cremation in 2011. To learn more about present-day cremation, click here.