
Cremation services are a popular choice among those planning or pre-planning
a funeral, and experts believe that this practice has been in use for
thousands of years. Continue reading to learn about the history of
cremation.
3000 B.C.
Many of today’s scholars estimate that people have been performing
cremation since the early Stone Age. At this time, around 3000 B.C., it’s
believed that cremation was practiced primarily in Europe and the Near
East. Also, there is evidence in the form of decorative pottery urns which
indicate that this funeral practice spread across northern Europe during
the late Stone Age.
2500 B.C.
Cremation spread to the British Isles and what are now Portugal and Spain
during the Bronze Age, between 2500 and 1000 B.C. Additionally, cemeteries
for cremation burials were developed in Ireland, Hungary, northern Italy,
and northern Europe.
1000 B.C.
During the Mycenaean Age, Grecian burial customs began to include cremation,
and it’s guessed that early Romans followed this trend around 600
B.C. By the height of the Roman Empire, which was from 27 B.C. to 395
A.D., cremation was a standard practice that often involved the storage
of elaborate urns within structures, much like modern day columbaria.
1873 A.D.
In 1873, an Italian professor presented a dependable chamber for cremation
at the 1973 Vienna Exposition. This development led to what we know as
cremation today. After this, the popularity of cremation grew in both
Europe and North America.
1999 A.D.
Nearly 600,000 cremations were performed in 1999, which accounted for
more than a quarter of the deaths in the U.S. By this time, there were
more than 1,400 crematories and, a decade later, this number had risen
to more than 2,000. In 2009, more than a third of all deaths in the United
States were followed by cremation.
At
our peaceful and full-service funeral home, we offer cremation near Oahu, HI. To learn more, please call Valley of
the Temples Memorial Park at (808) 239-8811.