Cremation

The practice of burning the dead. The practice of cremation on open fires was introduced to the Western world by the Greeks as early as 1000 BC. There is much variation in the disposal of the ashes, one distinctive practice being to place them in a cinerary urn for burial. Primary cremation is the burning of the deceased on a pyre in the grave. Secondary cremation is the practice of removing the remains of the deceased from the pyre to a grave. The cremation pit is a depression in which the remains of a cremation are buried.