Burial Vaults

I thought I knew the basics of a burial. Embalm the body, put the body in the casket which then goes 6 feet under. Ah, so that *is* the basics. Personally, I'd do away with the whole process and just be asked to be placed under a tree to rot. I'm not the only one to think this. Such 'natural' cemeteries are gaining in popularity! Woo hoo!! And people say I'm weird...

Anyhow, you can go for more than just the basic burial, and I don't mean those big vaults that can hold an entire family and their successive generations either. Apparently, you can get a concrete burial vault in which your casket goes which is all then buried underground. The vault seals you from the outside elements, namely water. The ground above won't collapse over time as with just the casket since the concrete will not decompose thus creating a pit. I didn't realize at the time of learning about this that these burial vaults are the same sorts often found in the big 'house' versions that hold a family of individual vaults with coffins except all fancily decorated and made of something better than concrete. =P My imagination quickly conjures vampire movies as Van Helsing has his team push the vault's lid aside to stab the sleeping vampire inside. ;)