This book is an essential reference resource for policy-makers, practitioners and academics with an interest in any aspect of funerary practice in England and Wales.

This book is an essential reference resource for policy-makers, practitioners and academics with an interest in any aspect of funerary practice in England and Wales.

This book examines the shifts that have taken place in the funeral industry since 1900, focusing on the figure of the undertaker and exploring how organizational change and attempts to gain recognition as a professional service provider saw the role morph into that of 'funeral director'.

Human bones form the most direct link to understanding how people lived in the past, who they were and where they came from. The interpretative value of human skeletal remains (within their burial context) in terms of past social identity and organisation is awesome, but was, for many years, underexploited by archaeologists. The nineteen papers in this edited volume are an attempt to redress this by marrying the cultural aspects of burial with the anthropology of the deceased.

This work provides a social history of death from the earliest times to Diana, Princess of Wales. As we discard the 20th century taboo about death, this book charts the story of the way in which our forebears coped with aspects of their daily lives.

Academic studies on death and cemeteries are relatively recent in Portugal; those that do exist tend to adopt an essentially historical and artistic point of view. Studies on the practicalities of managing the dead and their spaces are even more recent, and they do not yet form a cohesive body of work. Combining both approaches, Death and Funeral Practices in Portugal is the first book to offer a broad look at the evolution and current status of Portuguese funerary practice. By exploring the country’s historical development, examining the contemporary legal framework, and systematizing the way Portugal manages its cemeteries, crematoria, and other death spaces, this book aims to provide an essential reference to researchers with an interest in Portuguese funeral practice. Among other themes, this book interprets the predominance of Catholic funerals, examines the relatively recent history of cremation, and contextualizes the practices of exhumation and grave re-use, which are integral to the normal functioning of a Portuguese cemetery. This is the first book on Portuguese death and dying written specifically for a non-Portuguese audience. It will be of interest to researchers and scholars but also accessible to students and non-specialist readers first coming into the subject.

Built on original ethnographic research conducted by the author, this book offers a highly detailed and comprehensive account of funerary history and practices in Russia. Death and Funeral Practices in Russia provides rich data on mortality statistics, trends in the funeral market in contemporary Russia, the legal framework of funerary practices, as well as regional and demographic disparities. The first part of the book presents an in-depth account of the historical development of funerary practice in Russia, charting the emergence and evolution of funeral traditions and customs in the country from the Russian Empire to the collapse of the USSR. Having explored the wider historical context surrounding funerary culture in Russia, the second part of the book explores the key features of the funeral industry in post-Soviet times, highlighting critical changes and areas of continuity. Topics explored include the death care industry in Russia, the key features of the typical funeral in the country, cemetery and crematorium provision, the technicalities and legalities of burial and cremation, and the illegal practices within the funeral market. A truly unique offering, the book is essential reading for academics, policy makers and practitioners interested in the history and legal, technical and professional aspects of the funerary industry in Russia.

This book explores the funerary culture in the Netherlands through a mixture of photographs, figures and case studies. The nine chapters demonstrate the process of funeralising and ideas about death in the Netherlands, providing an overview of contemporary funerary practices and their changes over time.

What is the archaeology of the body and how can it change the way we experience the past? This book, one of the first to appear on the subject, records and evaluates the emergence of this new direction of cross-disciplinary research, and examines the potential of incorporating some of its insights into archaeology. It will be of interest to students, researchers, and teachers in archaeology, as well as in cognate disciplines such as anthropology and history.

This open access book focuses on migrant and minority cemetery needs through the conceptual lens of the mobilities of the living and the dead. In doing so, the book brings migration and mobility studies into much-needed dialogue with death studies to explore the symbolically and politically important issue of culturally inclusive spaces of cemeteries and crematoria for migrants and established minorities. The book addresses majority and minority cemetery and crematoria provisions and practices in a range of North West European contexts. It describes how the planning, management and use of cemeteries and crematoria in multicultural societies can tell us about the everyday lived experiences of migration and migrant heritage, urban diversity, social inclusion and exclusion in Europe, and how these relate to migrant and minority experience of lived citizenship, practices of territoriality and bordering, colonial/postcolonial narratives. The book will be of interest to readers in the fields of migration/mobilities studies and death studies, as well as policy makers and practitioners, such as local government officers, cemetery managers and city planners.