All That Remains: A Renowned Forensic Scientist on Death, Mortality, and Solving Crimes

by Sue Black

There are only so many things you can do with dead bodies before they quickly become unpleasant to live with. Five traditional and accepted ways of dealing with them have been used by humankind around the world across the ages. First, they can be left exposed in the open for terrestrial and airborne scavengers to remove, the method still employed in the sky burials of Tibet. Secondly, they can be deposited in rivers or into the sea, where aquatic life will fulfil the same purpose. Thirdly, we may store our dead above ground, via immurement in mausoleums and the like, which has often been the preferred option of the wealthy. The fourth solution is to bury them in the ground, where the invertebrates of the soil will take on the scavenging processes. With the appropriate permission, we can technically bury a body anywhere we like, including on private land, as long as there is no risk of contamination of water sources. Lastly, we can burn them, which is currently seen as the quickest and most hygienic choice, though it does raise concerns about air pollution.