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Human Remains
- Article from:
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Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and Dying
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Human Remains
Archaeologists, anthropologists, and classicists seem unanimous in asserting that the values of every culture, ancient and modern, entail proper disposal of human tissue and dead bodies. Among many peoples, the obligation to put the body properly to rest has been extended to maintaining the places of disposal as sacred sites. For example, in seventeenth-century New France, now Quebec, the settlements were considered unsuccessful until cemeteries were established. Prior to that, members of the aristocracy who could afford to do so had the body preserved in alcohol or stripped to the skeleton and shipped back to the country of origin. Those of lower status were simply ...