1. Mummification The technique of preserving a dead body involving drying and preservatives. Story time…

2. Exposure Getting rid of the body by leaving it to nature – Inuit: Exposure done out of necessity, ground too hard for burial – North American societies: Tree/high platform for elements. – American Southwest: Body left in cave, becomes a natural mummy – Tibet: Sky burials where body is left to be eaten by birds.

3. U.S.A. 19 th Century Death Rituals vs. Today 19 th Century Death Rituals – Person usually dies at home surrounded by friends and family. Female family members prepare the body for the funeral, create a burial shroud. Body stays in the parlor for about 3 days and is then transported the funeral home. Body would stop at church for service by a special horse-drawn horse and then interred either on family land or a local cemetery – The African Burial Ground Over 400 skeletons uncovered (~50% children) in Lower Manhattan, New York, perhaps as many as 10,000 people interred total. Forensic Anthropologists :A specialist in the analysis of the human skeleton in a legal context. – Children of slaves not provided accurate food or shelter (disease and malnutrition evident in bones). – Muscle strains, tears, fractures evident on bones from carrying heavy loads. – Civil War changed everything Massive, national cemeteries (Arlington National Cemetery). Over 600,000 died. Embalming, used previously only on medical cadavers, was practiced on a large scale to keep servicemen intact when shipped home to family. U.S. Funeral Rituals Today – Death is announced through network of friends and family – A mortician will prepare the body and the body is almost always embalmed. – Terminology has also changed: funeral director for undertaker, casket for coffin. Why is this? Why might we not be as comfortable with death as other cultures? What is our overall attitude towards death? – Roadside Memorials Should they be allowed? Block traffic? Sacred Remains – Even if body is damaged upon death, may have elaborate and expensive methods of reconstruction for funeral services. – Servicemen who have died overseas. The funeral is not complete without the body.

4. Days of Death Halloween/Eve of All Saints/All Saints Day/Samhain – Halloween – Eve of All Saints (Even of All Hallows) – All Saints Day – Samhain Dia de los Muertos Beautiful Feast of the Valley (Heb Nefer En Inet)