Editing Burial (section)

==Exhumation==
{{Anchor|Exhumation|Disinterment}}
[[File:Bucha after Russian occupation (04).jpg|thumb|Exhumation of those killed in [[Bucha massacre]] in March 2022]]
'''Exhumation''', or '''disinterment''', is the act of digging something up, especially a corpse. This is most often done to relocate a body to a different burial spot; families may make this decision to locate the deceased in a more pertinent or convenient place. In shared family burial sites (e.g. a married couple), if the previously deceased person has been buried for an insufficient period of time, the second body may be buried elsewhere until it is safe to relocate it to the shared grave.

Exhumation of human remains occur for a number of other reasons, including [[body identification]] or as part of a [[criminal investigation]]. If an individual dies in suspicious circumstances, [[police]] may request exhumation to [[autopsy|determine the cause of death]]. Exhumations may also occur via [[grave robbery]] or as an act of [[desecration]]. In rare, historical cases (e.g. [[Pope Formosus]] or [[Oliver Cromwell]]), a body may be exhumed for [[posthumous execution]], [[dissection]], or [[gibbet]]ing. Notable individuals may be exhumed to answer historical questions. Exhumation by [[Archaeology|archaeologists]] enables the study of remains, as with many [[ancient Egyptian mummies]] that have been put on public display.

In most jurisdictions, a legal exhumation usually requires a [[court order]] or permission by the [[next of kin]] of the deceased. U.S. law allows disinterment "only for the most compelling of reasons" and with the permission of close relatives and the cemetery official.<ref>{{Cite web |title=36 CFR § 12.6 - Disinterments and exhumations. |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/36/12.6 |access-date=2023-04-17 |website=[[Legal Information Institute]] |language=en |via=[[Cornell Law School]]}}</ref> Also in many countries, permits are required by some governing agency to legally conduct a disinterment.<ref>[http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/death/sudden_or_unexplained_death/exhumation_of_the_remains_of_a_deceased_person.html Exhumation of the remains of a deceased person]. Citizens Information Ireland. Retrieved on 29 June 2014.</ref>

In folklore and mythology, exhumation has also been frequently associated with the performance of rites to banish [[undead]] manifestations. A historical example is the 1892 [[Mercy Brown vampire incident]] of [[Rhode Island]].

===Changing burial location===
Remains may be exhumed for reinterment at a more appropriate location for various reasons.
* The passing of time may mean political situations change and a burial can take place in different circumstances. [[Roger Casement]] was executed at [[Pentonville (HM Prison)|Pentonville Prison]] in London on 3 August 1916 and buried in the prison grounds but his body was exhumed and given a [[List of Irish state funerals|state funeral]] in Dublin on 1 March 1965.<ref>National Archives, London, CAB 128/39</ref>
* Deceased individuals who were either not identified or misidentified at the time of burial may be reburied if survivors so wish.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/5153864.stm |work=BBC News |title=Accident victim's body is exhumed |date=6 July 2006 |access-date=27 April 2010}}</ref> For example, when the remains of [[missing in action|MIA]] soldiers are discovered, or the case of [[Nicholas II of Russia]] and his family, who were exhumed from [[unmarked grave]]s near [[Yekaterinburg]] to be reinterred in the [[Peter and Paul Fortress]] in [[St. Petersburg]].
* Cemeteries sometimes have a limited number of plots in which to bury the dead. Once all plots are full, older remains may be moved to an [[ossuary]] to accommodate more bodies, in accordance with burial contracts, [[Faculty (instrument)|religious]] and local burial laws. In [[Hong Kong]] where real estate is at a premium, burials in government-run cemeteries are disinterred after six years under exhumation order. Remains are either collected privately for cremation or reburied in an urn or niche. Unclaimed burials are exhumed and cremated by the government.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fehd.gov.hk/english/cc/land.html |title=Coffin Burial |publisher=Fehd.gov.hk |access-date=25 March 2011}}</ref> Permanent burial in privately run cemeteries is allowed. In Singapore, cremation is preferred by most Singaporeans because burials in Singapore is limited to 15 years.<ref name=2018Stats>{{cite web|url=https://www.cremation.org.uk/Singapore-2018|title=Singapore Cremation Statistics 2018|publisher=The Cremation Society of Great Britain|access-date=2020-12-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Crypt Burial System |url=https://www.nea.gov.sg/our-services/after-death/crypt-burial-system |access-date=2023-01-11 |website=www.nea.gov.sg |language=en |quote=The New Burial Policy, introduced in 1998 to address the issue of land scarcity, limits burial to 15 years. After this period, graves will be exhumed and the remains cremated or re-interred, depending on one's religious requirements.}}</ref> After 15 years, Singaporean graves will be exhumed and the remains will either be cremated or re-interred.
* Remains may be exhumed and reburied en masse when a cemetery is relocated, once local planning and religious requirements are met.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chicora.org/cemtery_relocation.htm |title=Cemetery Relocation |access-date=11 March 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070405144013/http://chicora.org/cemtery_relocation.htm |archive-date=5 April 2007 }}</ref> It also enables [[construction]] agencies to clear the way for new constructions. One example of this is cemeteries in [[Chicago]] next to [[O'Hare International Airport]] to expand the [[runways]]. The remains of the [[Venerable]] or the [[beatification|Blessed]] are sometimes exhumed to ensure their bodies lie in their correctly marked graves, as their gravesites usually become places for devotees to gather, and also to collect relics. The bodies may also be transferred to a more dignified place. It also serves the purpose to see if they are supernaturally [[Incorruptibility|Incorrupt]]. An incorrupt corpse is no longer considered miraculous, but it is a characteristic of several known saints. Exhumation is no longer a requirement in the [[beatification]] process, but still may be carried out.
* For ethical and cultural reasons, [[repatriation and reburial of human remains]] may be carried out when [[museum]]s and academic institutions return remains to their place of origin.

===Cultural aspects of exhumation===
Frequently, cultures have different sets of exhumation [[taboo]]s. Occasionally these differences result in conflict, especially in cases where a culture with more lenient exhumation rules wishes to operate on the territory of a different culture. For example, U.S. [[construction]] companies have run into conflict with [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] groups that have wanted to preserve their burial grounds from disturbance.

In [[Southern Chinese]] culture, graves are opened after a period of years. The bones are removed, cleaned, dried, and placed in a ceramic pot for reburial (in [[Taiwan]]), or in a smaller coffin and to be reburied in another location (in Vietnam). The practice is called ''jiǎngǔ''(撿骨) in Taiwan, or ''Bốc mộ''(卜墓) in Vietnam "digging up bones" and is an important ritual in the posthumous "care" of children for their deceased parents and ancestors.

[[Halakha|Jewish law]] forbids the exhumation of a corpse.<ref name="Lamm">{{cite web |url=http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/281579/jewish/The-Grave.htm |title=The Grave |last=Lamm |first=Maurice |publisher=[[Chabad.org]]}}</ref>

The majority of Muslim jurors maintain that an individual buried in a mosque must be exhumed and that offering prayers in such a mosque renders the prayer invalid. Jurists, however, hold that mosques built around already existing graves are to be demolished.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Al-Dawoody |first=Ahmed |date=August 2017 |title=Management of the dead from the Islamic law and international humanitarian law perspectives: Considerations for humanitarian forensics |journal=International Review of the Red Cross |language=en |volume=99 |issue=905 |pages=759–784 |doi=10.1017/S1816383118000486 |s2cid=150135016 |issn=1816-3831|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=حكم دفن الموتى في المساجد واتخاذها قبورًا |url=https://binbaz.org.sa/fatwas/3416/%D8%AD%D9%83%D9%85-%D8%AF%D9%81%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%88%D8%AA%D9%89-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%AC%D8%AF-%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AA%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%B0%D9%87%D8%A7-%D9%82%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%A7 |access-date=2023-03-31 |website=binbaz.org.sa |language=ar}}</ref>

In England and Wales once the top of a coffin has been lowered below ground level in a burial if it is raised again, say for example the grave sides are protruding and need further work, this is considered an exhumation and the [[Home Office]] are required to be notified and a full investigation undertaken. Therefore, grave diggers in England and Wales are particularly careful to ensure that grave sites are dug with plenty of room for the coffin to pass.<ref>{{cite web|title=Apply for an exhumation licence|url=https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-an-exhumation-licence|website=Gov.uk|access-date=27 September 2017}}</ref>