Funeral Traditions

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Funeral Traditions

EARLY TRADITIONS - Since the earliest beginnings of man on this planet, other humans have buried bodies of dead humans. Archeologists have found shallow graves dug by hand or crude tools. In later dated graves, they have found flowers carefully placed on the body of the deceased. In more recent human history, they have found ancient graves into which tools, hunting weapons and food baskets have been carefully placed. For thousands of years, humans have believed that a dead human body deserves decent and respectful treatment.
In the 17th century in Europe care of the deceased was undertaken by the family. They washed and dressed the body, laid-out the body of a period of time in the home, dug the grave, conducted a service acknowledging the life that had been lived by the deceased, and finally, they buried their loved one. Bodies were not embalmed. This European tradition came to America with the original Pilgrims and became the foundation for the American funeral tradition.
THE WAKE – Methods of confirming death were crude. Stories of burying life persons were not uncommon. In an attempt to prevent premature burial, families would sit by the body for several hours or a few days watching to see if the person awakened. This became known as the “wake”. In the Jewish tradition, this became a religious ritual known as the “watching”. They even have special benches used exclusively for this ritual purpose. During the wake or watching, families would be joined by friends. Today, this tradition is carried on in the form of the “viewing” or “visitation”.
OUTSIDE SERVICES - In the late 18th century the care of the dead began to be handed over to persons outside the family: cabinetmakers, church sextons and owners of livery services. Each professional had something special to offer. The cabinetmakers crafted coffins. Furniture stores sold coffins and related funeral merchandise. The church sextons laid...