Editing Burial (section)

===Marking the location of the burial===
[[Image:Japanese Cemetery - Broome.JPG|thumb|[[Kanji]] inscriptions engraved on headstones in the Japanese Cemetery in [[Broome, Western Australia]]]]
Most modern cultures mark the location of the body with a [[headstone]]. This serves two purposes. First, the [[grave (burial)|grave]] will not accidentally be '''exhumed'''. Second, headstones often contain information or tributes to deceased. This is a form of remembrance for loved ones; it can also be viewed as a form of [[immortality]], especially in cases of famous people's graves. Such [[monumental inscription]]s may subsequently be useful to genealogists and family historians.

In many cultures graves will be grouped, so the monuments make up a [[necropolis]], a "city of the dead" paralleling the community of the living.

====Unmarked grave====
In many cultures graves are [[#Marking the location of the burial|marked]] with durable markers, or [[monuments]], intended to help remind people of the buried person. An [[unmarked grave]] is a [[Grave (burial)|grave]] with no such memorial marker.

====Anonymous burial====
Another sort of unmarked grave is a burial site with an anonymous marker, such as a simple [[cross]]; boots, rifle and helmet; a sword and shield; a cairn of stones; or even a monument. This may occur when identification of the deceased is impossible. Although many unidentified deceased are buried in [[potter's field]]s, some are memorialized, especially in smaller communities or in the case of deaths publicized by local media. Anonymous burials also happen in poorer or disadvantaged populations' communities in countries such as South Africa, where in the past the non-white population was simply too poor to afford headstones. At the cemetery in the small rural town of [[Harding, KwaZulu-Natal]], many grave sites have no identification and just have a border of stones which mark out the dimensions of the grave site itself.

Many countries have [[Tomb of the Unknown Soldier|buried an unidentified soldier]] (or other member of the military) in a prominent location as a form of respect for all unidentified war dead. The UK memorializes '[[the Unknown Warrior]]' in [[Westminster Abbey]]; [[France]]'s is [[Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (France)|buried underneath]] the [[Arc de Triomphe]]; [[Italy]]'s is buried [[Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Italy)|within the Monumento al Milite Ignoto]] in [[Rome]]; [[Canada]]'s [[Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Canada)|is buried]] at the [[National War Memorial (Canada)|National War Memorial]] in Ottawa; [[Australia]]'s is located at the [[Australian War Memorial]] in [[Canberra]]; [[New Zealand]]'s [[Tomb of the Unknown Warrior (New Zealand)|is located]] in [[Wellington]]; [[Russia]]'s [[Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Moscow)|memorial]] is in [[Alexander Garden]] in [[Moscow]], and the U.S.'s [[Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Arlington)|is located]] at [[Arlington National Cemetery]].

Many cultures practice anonymous burial as a norm, not an exception. For instance, in 2002 a survey for the Federal Guild of German Stonemasons found that, depending on the location within Germany, from 0% to 43% of burials were anonymous.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stonereport.com/ihtm/detail-e.htm?aclnews=10:0:294:::0:242: |title=Stonereport News for your natural stone business |publisher=Stonereport.com |access-date=25 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716145341/http://www.stonereport.com/ihtm/detail-e.htm?aclnews=10%3A0%3A294%3A%3A%3A0%3A242%3A |archive-date=16 July 2011  }}</ref> According to ''[[Christian Century]]'' magazine, the perspective of the Roman Catholic Church is that anonymous burials reflect a dwindling belief in God.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.questia.com/magazine/1G1-18311722/europeans-seek-the-grave-s-anonymity|title="Europeans Seek the Grave's Anonymity" – The Christian Century, Vol. 113, Issue 17, May 15, 1996|website=|access-date=|archive-date=10 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610090107/https://www.questia.com/magazine/1G1-18311722/europeans-seek-the-grave-s-anonymity|url-status=dead}}</ref> Others claim that this trend is mainly driven by secularism and the high costs of traditional burials.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dw.com/en/germans-opt-for-alternative-burials-for-individual-touch/a-17188952|title=Germans opt for alternative burials for individual touch {{!}} Culture {{!}} DW.COM {{!}} 31 October 2013|last=(www.dw.com)|first=Deutsche Welle|website=DW.COM|access-date=18 May 2016}}</ref>

====Secret burial====
In rare cases, a known person may be buried without identification, perhaps to avoid [[desecration]] of the corpse, [[grave robbing]], or vandalism of the burial site. This may be particularly the case with infamous or notorious figures. In other cases, it may be to prevent the grave from becoming a [[tourist]] attraction or a destination of [[pilgrimage]]. Survivors may cause the deceased to be buried in a secret location or other unpublished place, or in a grave with a false name (or no name at all) on the marker.

Following [[Walt Disney]]'s cremation, his ashes were buried in a secret location in [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)|Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery]], California. Some burial sites at Forest Lawn, such as those of [[Humphrey Bogart]], [[Mary Pickford]] and [[Michael Jackson]], are secluded in private gated gardens or mausoleums with no public access. A number of tombs are also kept from the public eye. Forest Lawn's Court of Honor indicates that some of its crypts have plots which are reserved for individuals who may be "voted in" as "Immortals"; no amount of money can purchase a place. Photographs taken at Forest Lawn are not permitted to be published, and their information office usually refuses to reveal exactly where the remains of famous people are buried.

====Multiple bodies per grave====
Some couples or groups of people (such as a [[married couple]] or other family members) may wish to be buried in the same plot. In some cases, the coffins (or urns) may simply be buried side by side. In others, one casket may be interred above another. If this is planned for in advance, the first casket may be buried more deeply than is the usual practice so that the second casket may be placed over it without disturbing the first. In many states in Australia all graves are designated two or three depth (depending on the water table) for multiple burials, at the discretion of the burial rights holder, with each new interment atop the previous coffin separated by a thin layer of earth. As such all graves are dug to greater depth for the initial burial than the traditional six feet to facilitate this practice.

[[Mass burial]] is the practice of burying multiple bodies in one location. Civilizations attempting [[genocide]] often employ mass burial for victims. However, mass burial may in many cases be the only practical means of dealing with an overwhelming number of human remains, such as those resulting from a [[natural disaster]], an act of [[terrorism]], an [[epidemic]], or an [[accident]]. This practice has become less common in the developed world with the advent of [[genetic testing]], but even in the 21st century remains which are unidentifiable by current methods may be buried in a mass grave.

Individuals who are buried at the expense of the local authorities and buried in [[potter's field]]s may be buried in mass graves. [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] was once believed to have been buried in such a manner, but today it is known that such burials were never allowed in Mozart's Vienna, whose magistrates refused to agree to the burial regulations decreed by [[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor|Joseph II]].<ref name=Brauneis>[http://www.aproposmozart.com/Brauneis%20--%20Dies%20irae.rev.Index.pdf "Dies irae, dies illa – Day of wrath, day of wailing: Notes on the commissioning, origin and completion of Mozart's Requiem (KV 626)"] by {{ill|Walther Brauneis|de}} {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407071543/http://www.aproposmozart.com/Brauneis%20--%20Dies%20irae.rev.Index.pdf |date=2014-04-07 }}</ref> In some cases, the remains of unidentified individuals have been buried in mass graves in potter's fields, making exhumation and future identification troublesome for law enforcement.

Naval ships sunk in combat are also considered mass graves by many countries. For example, [[U.S. Navy]] policy declares such wrecks a mass grave (such as the [[USS Arizona Memorial]]) and forbids the recovery of remains. In lieu of recovery, divers or submersibles may leave a plaque dedicated to the memory of the ship or boat and its crew, and family members are invited to attend the ceremony.

Sites of large former battlefields may also contain one or more mass graves. [[Douaumont ossuary]] is one such mass grave, and it contains the remains of 130,000 soldiers from both sides of the [[Battle of Verdun]].

[[Catacombs]] also constitute a form of mass grave. Some catacombs, for example [[Catacombs of Rome|those in Rome]], were designated as a communal burial place. Some, such as the [[catacombs of Paris]], only became a mass grave when individual burials were relocated from cemeteries marked for demolition.

Judaism does not generally allow multiple bodies in a grave. An exception to this is a grave in the military cemetery in Jerusalem, where there is a ''kever achim'' ([[Hebrew]]: "grave of brothers") where two soldiers were killed together in a tank and are buried in one grave. As the bodies were so fused together with the metal of the tank that they could not be separately identified, they were buried in one grave (along with parts of the tank).