What Happens When A Body Is Not Buried

Most families follow the age old practice of burying their dead.
However, there are certain occasions where this does not happen.
Some have their bodies cremated.
Others donate their bodies to science for medical training.
In some rare instances, there may not be a body to bury.
What happens in these cases? In the case of cremation, most families have the ashes of their loved one sealed into an urn that is kept in the family home.
Some individuals leave special instructions for the disposition of their remains in their wills.
They may request to be spread over a certain area that held special meaning for them in their life.
Others have the cremated remains placed in a family tomb.
It is common practice for medical schools to have students work on dead bodies.
This affords them the best chance to see for themselves how the organs are linked and positioned in the body.
It can also allow them to see certain rare conditions that they might not be exposed to often in regular practice.
These bodies are donated either by the families of the deceased or by stipulation in the will of the person.
In most cases, the medical school will dispose of any remains as medical waste when they have finished with the cadaver.
In certain very special situations, there may not be any remains to bury.
This can happen when a person disappears without a trace and is declared dead after a suitable period of time.
It may also be the case during wartime as some battles can be quite brutal.
A few individuals may be lost at sea and their bodies never recovered.
Other disasters can make it impossible to recover all of the bodies of those killed.
In these cases, it is not uncommon for the family to have a grave created and a headstone set as if the person were actually buried there.
This helps to provide them with a sense of closure.
It also provides a place to visit to pay their respects to the deceased.
Such a memorial grave is not uncommon for those lost in extreme situations such as war.
Even though no body is actually buried at that location, it creates a symbolic link to the final resting place of the deceased that family can visit and show to future generations when telling them about their ancestors and their accomplishments.