Petrification as burial

Introduction

The accumulation of people in large cities makes burial not viable. Burial is giving place to cremation, a solution not compatible with our nature.

In this article I present another potential burial method, that satisfies both human nature and todays civil needs.

Nobody enjoys discussing the topic of human burial, neither wants to become an undertaker. Neither do I. But I believe that petrification of the human body could be the future of burial method because it is viable and above all, satisfies our nature.

 Human Nature

Vanity is in our nature. One would like to live forever, or at least his body to stay forever.

Pharaohs is the most extreme case. They found a way to mummify their body and have built enormous pyramids to keep it untouched.

Statues are another example that reveals the same nature. The body cannot be preserved, but the figure of powerful person will always remain, curved in marble.

And for every common human, the need to preserve the presence after death is done through pictures, many times as portraits hanging on the wall. Alas, these pictures in the next generation will end up in the garbage bin.

 Petrification

We all know fossils and petrified dinosaurs. After millions of years, some of these animals that once were roaming on earth can be admired in museums.

What impressed me the most are the recent cases of petrification, like the Tollund Man https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tollund_Man . The body of a man, who was hung on 4th century BC, was discovered in Denmark in 1950. The soft tissues were preserved so well, that one can see his expressions and wrinkles.

Under certain conditions, including the lack of oxygen, the body doesn’t rotten, but it becomes petrified with time.

 Burial for petrification

As cemetery we need a space that will never be used for other applications, so that the petrified bodies will remain untouched in future urban extensions. That space is the underground, in rock that doesn’t have any commercial value.

One way is to excavate declines to reach to a depth of say 1.000 m and develop a system of horizontal tunnels, where to bury the dead bodies. Fill these with slurry that will create the conditions for petrification. When the bottom tunnels will be filled, make new tunnels above and continue the process until reach 100 m bellow surface. Then plug the remaining access to ensure that the place stays untouched.

 Next steps

To evaluate the viability of this method, one should make pre-feasibility study to estimate the cost of the underground cemetery, make research for the slurry that will ensure petrification, investigate the permitting requirements and religious implications and make poll to confirm the interest of the public.