Funerary facts

Burying the Dead

An Archæological History of Burial Grounds, Graveyards and Cemeteries

Lorraine Evans

Pen & Sword 2020

Hb, 216pp, £19.99. ISBN 9781526706676

Human funerary practice is as varied as every other aspect of culture, and the rites practised by one culture can seem inexplicable or even grotesque to another. In Burying the Dead, Lorraine Evans surveys burial practices throughout history and around the world, picking out particularly interesting examples to showcase the diversity and changeability of custom and belief.

Evans has cast her nets wide: in her first two chapters, which begin with the transition from paganism to Christianity in England, she incorporates examples from Mexico, Hawaii, Borneo, Tibet, Malawi, Bhutan, Lithuania, Ghana, Alaska and more.

She then divides up her material thematically: the next chapter focuses on “deviant” burials, which include not only people who existed on the fringes of society, such as unbaptised children or executed criminals, but also those thought of as dangerous after death. These include “vampire” burials, where steps seem to have been taken to prevent the dead body from rising. After deviant burials, Evans investigates conflict graves, burials at sea or underwater, war memorials, the history of the modern cemetery, and even cemeteries for nonhumans, such as pet cemeteries or aeroplane “graveyards.”

There’s so much variety in that any reader can learn something new – even if you know