Interestingly, sanitation played an important role in the burial of the dead. In the past, Jews and Romans saw cemeteries as a breeding ground for disease. This is why graveyards were found outside the walls of Rome and in Jerusalem. The ancient Egyptians and the Chinese also followed the practice. In this article, you will learn one of the biggest concerns for people burying their dead in the past.
The Catacombs of Early Christians
Since early Christians were not permitted to practice their religion, they established catacombs, which not only served as mass graves, but also gave them a place to worship and meet up with one another. When the Christians were allowed to publicly worship, they still chose to bury their dead close to the living , placing bodies in vaults inside churches and in adjoining churchyards.
Overcrowding in Ancient Cemeteries
Ancient cultures experienced overcrowding in the locations they chose to bury their dead and as a result, suffered waves of disease and other issues. For example, the 6th century saw increasing numbers of Christians that wished to be buried in churches and churchyards that problems with space and sanitation emerged. Inside the burial vaults, wooden coffins cracked and released the stench of rotting bodies.
In the summertime, the odor was overpowering, the air was polluted, and all of the above factors attracted many flies. Worshippers were getting sick just because they were visited the churches that housed their dead relatives. As the issue got worse, secular officials tried to enforce the ancient Roman custom of burying the dead outside of the town, but churches were excluded from the sanitary laws set by secular representatives.
During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the problem of overcrowding got so bad that drastic measures were taken to accommodate the newly dead. Church sextons began to remove skeletons and partially decayed corpses to secret pits , a practice completed in the middle of the night. The coffin plates worth money, handles and nails were then sold as waste metal. Churchyard cemeteries became a gruesome sight. During the early 19th century, the living started to turn their backs on the dead.
The answer to the horrific burial practices was the garden cemetery.
The Garden Cemetery
When the late 1800s arrived, the garden cemetery was a breath of fresh air. Positioned on the outskirts of the town, a great deal of planning went into the establishment of this kind of cemetery. The landscaping was impressive and many people visited the location. The garden cemetery became a popular destination for townsfolk, and even saw visitors who didn’t even have a loved one buried on the site.
Private or public funds were used to construct the garden cemeteries, which would become the responsibility of the city or state government to manage. Sometimes, nonprofit organizations took over the task. In the northeastern part of the United States, the garden cemetery was especially necessary , a viral epidemic took hold of the region during the early 1800s. The church graveyards had become a public health hazard. You could literally walk into one and sink into the ground, surrounded by pieces of bone and coffin fragments.