Years ago there was a TV show that we used to watch called \u201cSix Feet Under.\u201d And there\u2019s always the line in some cheesy movie that goes like: \u201cOne more move, and I\u2019ll put you six feet under.\u201d No matter if the phrase is spouted by a cowboy in a back hat or a mobster wearing pinstripes, everyone knows that six feet under represents the depth where coffins reside after burial. In fact it\u2019s widely believed that the standard graveyard procedure is to put a coffin six feet under. But, actually, that\u2019s not the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The final resting place of someone in a coffin varies depending on the site of the burial. The depths can range from 18 inches to 12 feet. There is no rule or regulation that decrees that a person must be put to rest exactly six feet below ground level. I guess if you think about it, that makes sense. Digging a six-foot grave someplace like New Orleans, that is below sea level, might get pretty soggy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most grave depths are determined by local, state, or national governments. In New Orleans, most of its dead are placed above ground in crypts. In that area, gravesite in the ground are almost always less than two feet deep \u2014 and even then, occasionally the coffin will pop out of the ground.\u00a0
The California requirement is a mere 18 inches. In Quebec, Canada, the law states that coffins \u201cshall be deposited in a grave and covered with at least one meter of earth.\u201d New South Wales in Australia, calls for 900 millimeters (slightly less than three feet.)
And the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management in London says that \u201cno body shall be buried in such a manner that any part of the coffin is less than three feet below the level of any ground adjoining the grave.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So \u2014 if burial depths vary from place to place, how did the phrase \u201csix feet under\u201d come to life? Historians believe it originated in England. London\u2019s Great Plague of 1665 killed 75,000 to 100,00 people. In the book, A Journal of the Plague Year,<\/em> by Daniel Defoe, the author writes that the city\u2019s lord mayor issued an edict that all graves had to be dug six feet deep to limit the spread of the plague outbreak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But today we don\u2019t have a uniform burial depth \u2014 I doubt that it really matters \u2014 but I\u2019m glad six feet under became popular\u2026. can you imagine a good cowboy or gangster movie without that line? Years ago there was a TV show that we used to watch called \u201cSix Feet Under.\u201d And there\u2019s always the line in some cheesy movie that goes like: \u201cOne more move, and I\u2019ll put you six feet under.\u201d No matter … Continue reading
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