History of Cremation

THE HISTORY OF CREMATION 3000 В.С. Ancient cremation probably began in a STONE AGE basic sense during the early Stone Age and most likely in Europe and the Near East. During the late Stone Age cremation began to spread across northern Europe, as evidenced by particularly informative finds of decorative pottery urns in western Russia among the Slavic peoples. 2500 TO 1000 B.C. BRONZE AGE Cremation moved into the British Isles and into what is now Spain and Portugal. Cemeteries for cremation developed in Hungary and northern Italy, spreading to northern Europe and even Ireland. MYCENAEAN AGE Cremation became an integral part of the CIRCA 1000 В.С. elaborate Grecian burial custom. TIME OF HOMER It became the dominant mode of disposition IN 800 B.C. and was encouraged for reasons of health and expedient burial of slain warriorsin this battle-ravaged country. SOMETIME AROUND Following this Grecian trend, the early 600 В.С. Romans probably embraced cremation. It apparently became so prevalent that an official decree had to be issued in the mid- 5th Century against the cremation of bodies IA within the city. CAIO TIME OF It was widely practiced, and THE ROMAN EMPIRE cremated remains were generally 27 В.С. ТО 395 А.D. stored in elaborateurns, often within columbarium-like buildings. Prevalent though the practice was among the Romans, cremation was rare with the early Christians who considered it pagan, and in the Jewish culture where traditional sepulcher entombment was preferred. BY 400 A.D. As a result of Constantine's Christianization of the Empire, earth burial had completely replaced cremation except for rare instances of plague or war. For the next 1,500 years remained the accepted mode of disposition throughout Europe. MODERN CREMATION ACTUALLY BEGAN ONLY A LITTLE OVER A CENTURY AGO, AFTER YEARS OF EXPERIMENTATION INTO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A DEPENDABLE CH AMBER. 1873 A.D. Professor Brunetti of Italy perfected his model and displayed it at the 1873 Vienna Exposition; the cremation movement started almost simultaneously on both sides of the Atlantic. 1874 A.D. In the British Isles, the movement was fostered by Queen Victoria's surgeon, Sir Henry Thompson. 1874 - 1878 A.D. Sir Henry and his colleagues founded the Cremation Society of England in 1874. The first crematories in Europe were built in 1878 in Woking, England and Gotha, Germany. 1876 A.D. Dr. Julius Le Moyne built the first crematory in Washington, Pennsylvania. Other forces behind early crematory openings were Protestant clergy who desired to reform burial practices, and the medical profession concerned with health conditions around early cemeteries. Crematories sprang up in Buffalo, New York, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Detroit and Los Angeles. 1900 A.D. There were already 20 crematories in operation. 1913 A.D. Dr. Hugo Erichsen founded the Cremation Association of America. There are 52 crematories in North America. Over 10,000 cremations took place in that year. 1975 A.D. The name was changed from Cremation Association of America CA NA to the Cremation Association of North America. There were over 425 crematories and nearly 150,000 cremations. 1999 A.D. There are 1,468 crematories and 595,617 cremations. 25.39% of all deaths in the United States are cremated. By 2009 Over 2,100 crematories and 900,000 cremationst. 36.84% of deaths in the United States were handled through cremation. A percentage that is expected to grow to over half of deaths by 2018. passare.com TM Sources http://science.howstuffworks.com/cremation6.htm Twitter @PassareInc http://www.cremationassociation.org/?HistoryOfCremation Facebook facebook.com/passareInc http://sandiegoboattours.com/home/san-diego-burial-at-sea-overview/cremation-history/ Tumblr passareinc.tumblr.com