Posts Tagged ‘anthropology’
On the Death of Osama Bin Laden
9, May 2011Watery Grave, Murky Law Leor Halevi, New York Times (May 08, 2011) Osama bin Laden’s burial at sea and the history of Shariah. Bin Laden Exits the Scene On the Media, WNYC and National Public Radio (May 06, 2011) It has been one week since President Obama announced that Osama Bin Laden was dead. I [...]
Jewish Burial Gets Back to the Roots
14, Dec 2010Reviving a Ritual of Tending to the Dead Paul Vitello, The New York Times (December 13, 2010) A new generation of Jewish volunteers is learning how to prepare a body for burial using techniques that attend to “the feelings of the dead.” It has been a good year for people who want to re-discover the [...]
- By: John
- In: Afterlife|Burial
- Tags: anthropology, green burial, religion
Murder?! The Maggots Are on It
11, Jun 2010Crime Scene Insects BBC World Service (June 11, 2010) This episode of BBC Documentaries explores forensic entomology: “the investigation of insects recovered from crime scenes and corpses.” Guests include Amoret Whitaker of the Natural History Museum in London, who studies the flies and maggots that congregate on corpses to find clues about the time and [...]
- By: Meg Holle
- In: Death + Biology|Death + Crime
- Tags: animals, anthropology, death and smell, decomposition, forensics, homicide, research
Fire, Beauty and Death in Bali
14, Apr 2010What does a cremation sound like? Most of us in the Western world would be hard-pressed to answer that question. Cremation is something that takes place out of sight, and for most, out of mind. The fiery furnaces are lit, the body is rolled in and a few hours later, ashes to ashes, dust to [...]
- By: Kim
- In: Afterlife|Cremation|Grief + Mourning
- Tags: anthropology, audio, Bali
Washing the Dead for Jewish Funerals
30, Mar 2010Jewish Burial Practices Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, PBS (February 6th, 2004) Last week on the Death Reference Desk I wrote about American Muslims washing the dead body before a funeral. A friend from graduate school, Jakki, saw the post and sent me a fantastic PBS segment on the Jewish tradition of washing the dead. Jakki [...]
- By: John
- In: Burial|Funeral Industry
- Tags: anthropology, funeral homes, religion