Lyra Radford

The history of coffins is a fairly long one, as humans began burying the dead at least 100,000 years ago. The use of coffins, or coffin-like structures, can be traced to the Celts and ancient Egyptians. In Egypt, bodies were mummified, placed in a sarcophagus, and buried in pyramids. As early as the year 700, the Celts were crafting burial boxes with wood and stones. Prior to the use of caskets, bodies were often wrapped in a shroud before burial.

Burial is viewed as a sign of respect for the dead, and as a way to provide closure for the living, while protecting them from the possible spread of disease. The manner in which a culture buries their dead often reflects religious practices, and is believed to affect the afterlife of the deceased. This list contains strange facts about historical coffins and burial practices. Read on to learn more about the history of caskets.

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• Photo: Photo by Tom Oates, 2013/Nabokov / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY 3.0

Reusable Coffins Used To Be A Thing

In 1784, the desire to save wood was so great, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II decided reusable coffins needed to be the new hot item. Trap doors were placed in the bottom of each coffin; this way, those performing the burial ceremony could flip a switch and, presto, the body falls into a hole under the coffin. After the corpse vanished, the coffin could be used again. This disturbing trend lasted about six months before the public called shenanigans and demanded it be stopped.

• • Photo: Wellcome Images / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY 4.0

12,000 Bodies Were Buried Under A Church’s Floorboards

Prior to the establishment of cemeteries in old England, the dead were buried in churchyards. While this was profitable for the churches, there’s only so much room in a churchyard for corpses.

Overcrowding led to some pretty disgusting improvisation, the most famous of which took place at the Enon Chapel, where the preacher was taking an average of 30 bodies per week and burying them beneath the floorboards. The basement was stacked, floor to ceiling, with more than 12,000 bodies. Gases seeped through floorboards, flies swarmed, and eventually they began dumping bodies in the Thames River until authorities discovered what was going on and shut down the church.

The motivation behind the Enon Chapel corpse debacle was simple – the preacher collected burial fees on each body, and could then sell them to medical schools without the knowledge of the family. Classic corpse scam.

• • Photo: Cornelius Brown / Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Vultures Ate Corpses In Towers Of Silence

Not every culture practices underground burial. Some have burials at sea, many prefer cremation, and others would rather bury their dead in the bellies of birds. Ancient Zoroastrians constructed towers for the sole purpose of laying out dead bodies to be picked away at by birds. They were called Towers of Silence, although there’s nothing quiet about swarms of vultures ripping flesh from bones. The bones were left out to bleach in the sun, then disposed of in a well and covered with lime, to speed the disintegration process.

• • Suicide Burials Were Unpleasant In Britain

England once considered the act of suicide to be a crime punishable after death. All the property of suicide victims was confiscated, leaving the surviving family members with no inheritance, and Christian burial rites were denied. Those who attempted suicide but failed were charged as felons, for attempted self-murder.

Why so harsh? Superstition. Britons feared the ghosts of those who committed suicides would be forced to wander the streets of their town and haunt their home, so they put the strictest laws in place in hopes of deterring people from killing themselves. Those who did commit suicide would be buried at crossroads, or near the sea, in hopes of confusing spirits. Sometimes authorities took the extra safety measure of driving a stake through the corpse’s heart, just in case.

• • Caskets Are Made Like Tupperware to Avoid Exploding Casket Syndrome

It may sound ridiculous, but exploding casket syndrome is a common term in the death industry. During the decomposition process, the body releases gas, and things start to liquefy. If there isn’t a way for gas to escape, pressure continues to build until the gas explodes. Such an explosion causes caskets to burst and can even crack mausoleum walls. Not to mention the post-mortem goop that needs to be cleaned up. To avoid such explosions, casket makers added burper valves, such as those found in Tupperware, to release gas build-up and keep the deceased intact.

• • Photo: Wellcome Images / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY 4.0

Diseased Corpses Were Tossed Into Plague Pits

During the Black Plague, pits were dug for the infected dead, to prevent the spread of disease. These pits were dug on unconsecrated ground, no visitors were allowed near them, and, often, no prayer or religious ceremony was performed for the deceased. Some people who were near death or in a state of anguish over deceased loved one threw themselves into the pits as an act of despair.

In some cases, they were pulled out, though. certain officials weren’t willing to risk the spread of the disease, and left the jumpers in the pit, leading to several people being buried alive.

• • Ritual Bone Cleaning Is Important In Taiwan And China

In Taiwan and parts of China, graves are dug up and bodies exhumed years after burial, so that bones can be cleaned and dried. The bones are then reburied in a ceramic pot. This practice is called jiǎngǔ, a ritual that allows a current generation to care for their ancestors. Though typically carried out by the family of the deceased, there are some who perform jiǎngǔ professionally, at the behest of the family. Women are typically not allowed to perform the ritual – at least not the cleaning of the bones – because it would be considered blasphemy for a menstruating woman to touch the remains.

• • Ma’nene Festival: Parade Of The Dead

The inhabitants of remote Indonesian islands host a celebratory cleaning-of-the-corpses festival. Ritualistic aspects of the festival include digging up dead relatives, cleaning their bones, changing their clothing, and trotting them out for a walk around the village. The corpses are paraded about in merry fashion, and often run into one another on the street, creating an eerie atmosphere. Corpses are also propped up in the family home, and masses of buffalo are slaughtered for a feast.

• • Photo: Franz Vester / Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Premature Burial Led To The Creation Of Coffin Alarms

Premature burial was a very real and terrifying issue in the 19th century. Creating an alert system seemed like the best way to deal with the problem. Enter so-called safety coffins, which were rigged with a bell to alert cemetery guards of any living people trying to get out of their premature graves. These coffins also had a small hatch to allow fresh air in while waiting to be dug out.

• • Escape Coffins Helped Those Buried Alive Get Out

Escape coffins were developed for those prematurely buried in vaults. They essentially enabled the prematurely buried to pull a Houdini, allowing them to get themselves out of their unfortunate predicament. Escape coffins had spring-loaded lids that were set off by the slightest movement within the coffin. A retired firefighter named Thomas Pursell created an alternative to the traditional escape coffin – ventilated vaults with handwheels so those prematurely buried could open the vault from the inside.

• Photo: Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret / Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

There’s A Reason We’re Buried Six Feet Under (Or Sometimes 30)

Bodies began being buried six feet deep after trial and error proved this was the ideal depth to prevent an animal from digging up a corpse and the spread of infectious disease. Modern graves are usually dug around four-and-a-half feet deep, but caskets are heavier and stronger now than they used to be, as well as better sealed. In large European towns, graves could be dug as deep as 30 feet, and coffins piled up on top of each other. This was usually done in areas with little space and for families who couldn’t afford separate grave sites.

• • Photo: Pieter Boel / Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

The Materials Used To Build Coffins Continue To Evolve

As knowledge has increased and personal preferences have developed, the materials used to build coffins have changed over the years. Caskets have been made out of bamboo, wicker, glass, wood, cast iron, steel, and even gold. Metal coffins became very popular among the wealthy members of society in the 1800s, as a method of protection against grave robbers.

Now, one can acquire a coffin in the shape of pretty much anything, from musical instruments to high-heel shoes. In 2015, a coffin pods were introduced to the world, allowing the body to decompose and serve as fertilizer for the tree seedling buried with it. This way, a form of life grows out of death and lets the departed give back to the earth.

• • Photo: Vincent van Gogh / Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Burial Direction Is Typically East

Ancient Pagan beliefs are linked to the direction of burial, which is commonly facing east. It’s believed this was due to the fact that they wanted the dead facing the direction of the rising sun. In Judaism, they say the dead are to face the Last Trump, which is towards the east also.

• • Photo: Eric Draper / Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Multiple-Coffin Burials Are Part Of Papal Burials

Using multiple coffins – three, to be specific – for papal burials has symbolic and practical purposes. The three coffins are made out of cypress wood, the second of zinc, and the third of oak, elm, or walnut.

They fit inside one another, with the cypress holding the body and symbolizing humility. It is closed using red ribbons. The zinc coffin holds the cypress one and is emblazoned with the pope’s coat of arms, name, and other details about his pontificate, while the outermost wooden coffin is sealed using golden nails. Also continued within the multiple coffins are coins, medals, a pallium (ecclesiastical vestments) and a “Rogito” or comprehensive description of the pope’s deeds.

Using three coffins traces to the Middle Ages, perhaps a holdover from occasions when the body of the pontiff was parceled out and buried in multiple locations. Masimo Faggioli of Villanova University also posited the three coffins were intended to protect the body of the deceased pope from enemies.

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