Hornby Island Cemetery

Its kind of funny that the blog prompt for this week included a question about where we would do a monument analysis if we could choose anywhere in the world, because I was thinking just a few days before about how interesting it would be to study the Hornby Island Cemetery. I grew up on Hornby and miss it all the time so anything to do with Hornby is of interest to me. That said, I don't think I've been to the cemetery more than twice in my life.
It's a very small cemetery, appropriate for a very small island, and is situated on the main road across the island, in a little clearing, just before the community hall and school grounds. There's a rough screen in the form of a row of trees, separating the property from the road. No church is associated with the cemetery and I have a niggling feeling that it was started by some denomination but whatever it was is no longer really acknowledged. The plots in the cemetery are an eclectic mix of religions and styles.
I'm thinking that if I get more than two days on the island in the near future I might just go and do a little monument analysis for fun. But lets be honest, I never get more than two days anymore.

If you want some pictures try this link and click through a few pictures of individual monuments (there should be 7). Avi's flickr site vetoed my attempts to post the photos directly to my blog.

Burial in B.C.

So, I found four fascinating forms of alternative burial but have had a bit of trouble finding out if you can actually have them done in B.C.

- Burial at sea
In this method the body is cremated and the ashes are scattered into the sea. I could only find one company, out of Victoria, that advertised this service. They take the family members out to the assigned point and scatter the ashes they then sprinkle flower petals into the sea at the spot. Apparently the paperwork required to do this takes about 8 weeks to process and is so costly and time consuming most people aren't going for it. This is the only disposal option of the four I found that I am certain is legal in B.C.
(http://www.bowersfuneralservice.com/faq.php)
(http://www.marineecotours.com/recreation/boat-charters/scattering-ashes-at-sea-victoria)

- Memorial reef
The body is cremated and included in concrete used to make a reef bud. While the cement is still wet family members are allowed to write messages in it or imprint handprints. The reef bud is then taken out to sea and dropped in to start a new reef. This is a really beautiful means of disposal as it creates a habitat for new sea life and does not take up space on land. I found a company that provides this service in Florida but couldn't find one in B.C. That said, Sidney harbor has an artificial reef so it is not a far step to envisage memorial reefs in B.C. at some point in the future.

This video is of the Neptune Memorial Reef off Miami. Its a long video (5 min) but it really interesting and an extreme example of memorial reefs.

(http://www.eternalreefs.com/)

- Promession
This Swedish invention operates in a similar manner to regular cremation in that the body is on display for the funeral but the casket is then flash frozen and shaken to shatter the body, the pieces were then dried out and put in an urn to be buried. Some say this is possibly the greenest form of disposal. I still haven't managed to find anywhere in B.C. that offers this service but neither have I found anything saying it is illegal.

(http://www.promessa.se/?lang=en)

- Resomation

This method is similar to promession but rather than freezing and shattering the body it is put in a solution that dissolves the body leaving sterile water and the bones which are then crushed and returned to the family. I haven't managed to find anyone in B.C. offering this but that may not be because it's illegal, maybe there just isn't enough demand.

(http://www.resomation.com/)

So... how 'bout that cancelled class on Friday?

So I dragged myself out of bed to get to class on time and it was cancelled. I must admit I was a little heartbroken thinking about the extra hour of sleep I could have had, but life happens and plans change, so like pretty much everyone else I sleepily mumbled something about caffeine and moved on. Despite my having only one or two superstitious bones in my body, because it was friday the 13th I went to my other classrooms for the day to make sure they hadn't been cancelled too (sadly they hadn't), you never know how many superstitious bones professors might have in their bodies. 

A suspicious beagle with a superstitious bone

Then... (cue ominous music)... I went to stand in the line at academic advising (for what felt like days but was really more like half an hour) to declare my major, something I probably should have done at the end of second year but... I have considerably more procrastinating bones in my body than superstitious ones. I also checked into what I would need to do to get credit for a field school that I really want to go on this summer but shouldn't be torturing myself with cause there's no way I can afford to... damn you gorgeous foreign archaeological sites! Then I grabbed another hot chocolate and went to doze in front of the classroom my next lecture was in.

Really a rather productive hour, although had class not been cancelled I would much rather have learned about death and burial than committed myself to an awesome but terrifying double major of doom.

Warning to those planning to go on field schools this summer

Hey all,
just wanted to post a little warning to anyone thinking of going on a field school this summer. DON'T GO ON THIS ONE or any other one that has Krassimira Luka as the director. I did in 2010 and it was a gong show. The thing was a scam and the little we did learn was from other participants who had more experience than us and ended up basically having to run the thing. most of the things it says are included in the fee aren't and we ended up having to pay more once we got there because they had miscalculated the costs.

I don't want to slander Bulgaria as a whole 'cause the trip was amazing, but that specific field school and the director are bad news. If you want more info you can ask me but really, truly, avoid Cambustica and Ratiaria at all costs. If you want a field school in Bulgaria do one in Sofia or one from this site.

The Roman fort at Belogradchik where we got to go after kidnapping a couple of our drivers and paying our own entry fee despite it being advertised as one of the historical sites included in our trip. If you're ever in Bulgaria you have to go here, this photo is just the very front tip of the iceberg. 

What do I know about death?

I'm taking this course because I want to be an archaeologist, but also because I am fascinated by death. I often ponder the many personas humans project in differing situations and relationships and I think burial is a reflection of those personas as experienced by the people who organize our burials. I am also interested in the multitude of ways in which human mourn and commemorate their dead. Christian cultures are so dour and reserved about the whole thing; we are quick to clean up and move on from death while still making sure to properly exhibit our loss. Other cultures wail and cry for the dead or tear their hair out in grief openly displaying their emotions regarding the loss of a loved one. The recent death of Kim-Jong Il and the North Korean media coverage of his mourners gained a lot of response from North American media, which questioned the veracity of the North Korean population's bereavement but did not seem to take into account the cultural differences that may have lead to such a display.

Shirley McDonnell

My grandmother died when I was 9. She passed in her sleep from a heart attack triggered by a reaction to some dental work she had done a day or two before. Several years later my mother told me that Grandma had wanted to be cremated and have her ashes scattered from the Isle of Skye. Instead, my grandfather had her buried at the family plot in Lindsey, Ontario, next to relatives she was never very fond of. This taught me, at a young-ish age, that burial is not a reflection of the person as they saw themselves or as they wished to be remembered but more often it is a reflection of the wishes of those left behind. Years later, when we flew out to Ontario to attend my grandfather's funeral I saw the headstone with his freshly carved name next to her slightly older one and the much older inscriptions marking long-dead McDonnells I never knew and don't feel much affinity to.

I want my ashes scattered from Skye or my inhumation to have lots of nice grave goods for someone to dig up and theorize over in a few hundred years.