A variety of human cultures around the globe have traditions for burying the dead. A number of scientists even consider the presence of such traditions to be a distinctive feature indicating the emergence of consciousness among our distant ancestors.

Be that as it may, although today we do not bury the dead in battle garb, with beads and spears, the burial procedure is determined by the rules and regulations that correspond to modern times.

Six feet under - six feet down

One of these rules is the established depth to which the body is buried - as a rule, it is about 2 meters. The origin of this particular value has its own historical prerequisites, which are reflected even in the language: for example, in English there is the idiom “six feet under” (six feet down) - in everyday conversation referring to the topic of funeral and burial. 6 feet is roughly equal to 1.8 meters, so we're talking about similar depth here.

Why is the depth of the grave 2 meters - the plague of 1655 in England

The year 1655 is considered to be the year the burial depth standard appeared. English cities were literally choking with death - people died in the thousands, struck down by an unprecedented epidemic of the bubonic plague. The fear of repeated waves of infection was so great that at the administrative level they tried to block all possible ways of catching this infection (plague in Latin “pestis” - infection).

Order of the Mayor of London

Since it was believed that the terrible disease was transmitted from contact with those who fell ill and died from the plague, they decided to tighten the burial standards. The Mayor of London signed a decree that read:

By the way, it was already known then that the true carriers of infection are fleas, jumping from body to body, but later scientific research confirmed the validity of the precautions of British legislators: in addition to the “rat - flea - human” schemes, as well as “human - flea - human” , shortly before death, the infection reached the septic stage, when the infection could indeed be transmitted simply through bodily contact, directly.

The accepted standard of “6 feet down” took hold in other cities in England, and later went beyond the English-speaking world and established itself in other countries.

USA – grave depth is regulated by states

It is clear that such an establishment is not indisputable and absolute: for example, in the United States, the legally established depth of the grave may vary depending on the state.

For example, many require a minimum of 18 inches of soil above a closed casket, or 2 feet of soil above an uncovered body. Considering that the average height of a closed casket is 30 inches (0.75 meters), a total grave depth of ~1.2 meters would be considered sufficient in these states.

Another common practice is to dig, on the contrary, an extremely deep grave - up to 4 meters - “in reserve”: the coffin is placed at the bottom of the hole, but at the same time a place is left above it for other family members and relatives.

However, although this practice is widespread, people in the States generally still bury everything to a depth of 2 meters. Why? Because if you dig even deeper, it can lead to much more dire consequences: residents of New Orleans often face them.

New Orleans is all in the water

The fact is that this entire area is located at the mouth of the largest river in the United States, the Mississippi River, so the land there is literally oversaturated with water: sometimes even the foundations of buildings begin to sink deeper. Accordingly, it often happens that powerful streams of water literally lifted coffins placed at the very depths. So, wanting to give a deceased relative peace by placing him deeper, his relatives were faced with the problem of either paying for reburial, or, in extreme cases, even looking for where the river current could take the floating coffin (this happened during periods of particularly severe floods).

How is it in Australia?

Like the United States, another former British colony, Australia, has a 6-foot-down burial standard. But, as you can already understand, he orients himself - that means, he applies it in accordance with specific circumstances, rather than precisely checking every centimeter in German.

For example, in connection with the problem of a shortage of cemetery land, a real scourge of modern megacities, the Australian authorities have resorted to a rather original measure: to bury people standing (in an upright position) and without coffins - instead of coffins, it is supposed to use specialized bags that tightly encircle the body. Here, before our eyes, a new practice of burials is emerging - and, like any practice of this kind, it immediately begins to acquire norms. The question is, at what minimum depth did they decide to bury the “standing dead”? Answer: by 3 meters - and, if we take the average height to be 1.8 meters, we that the value of “6 feet down” will almost divide an upright body in half. And yes, although the top of it will be closer to the surface, the “center line” used is still based on the British Standard.

If we look again at Great Britain, we see that today its inhabitants adhere to the same norm. And, although the inhabitants of Foggy Albion are known for their love of tradition, the reason for maintaining the ancient burial act in force still has other reasons. During the twentieth century, as the permanent population of cities increased and, with it, the size of cemeteries, epidemiological services shifted their focus from the risk of plague to more routine factors.

England - a land of multi-tiered crypts

Thus, employees of the relevant departments exhort citizens to remember: in fact, the point of placing the coffin a couple of meters into the ground is a precautionary measure against animals that can dig up the burial; from heavy rains, which can wash away the top layer of soil and expose the body, etc. (For historical reasons, multi-tiered crypts became common in Victorian Britain, but these structures are much less accessible to animals than ordinary graves in the ground, so their depth standard does not apply).

Depth 2 meters - the height of a tall person

However, in addition to historical, cultural and sanitary-epidemiological circumstances, one can find a more general civilizational justification for this value. It doesn't matter whether it's 2 meters down or 6 feet down, on average this depth corresponds to... the height of a tall person.

The grave is deep when the diggers are not visible

If you step aside from codified standards, the pragmatics of life becomes clearer: here are people standing in a grave pit, digging it. They themselves are a natural unit of measurement: a hole is deep when those digging it can no longer be seen. Just as the coffin should not be visible later.

Permafrost and deserts

The climatic principle also plays a role: if we do not live in permafrost or desert heat (funeral rituals there must be quite specific), in most latitudes the layer of soil, which is technically not too difficult to dig with the help of several people - even before the invention of special equipment - varies from 1.5 to 2 meters. Why are they buried to a depth of 2 meters? Yes, because this value turns out to be at the intersection of other factors that themselves cross the boundaries of cultures and countries.

6 feet down is a figure of speech, not a standard.

In any case, in today's world, "6 feet down" is a fixed figure of speech, not a clear standard. Like many similar phrases brought to the crest of our language by some events in the distant past, we use them as guidelines rather than legal norms (unless otherwise stated). The dead are buried to a depth of 2 meters, 1.5 meters, 2.5 meters - these adjustments depend on the condition of the cemetery land and the practices adopted in a particular area.

In a separate article we will tell you about burial standards in Russia, as well as the history of this issue.

There is a phrase in English that translates to "6 feet down." When people say it, they mean death or funeral. But hardly anyone has ever wondered why dead people are buried at a depth of 6 feet (2 meters).

This tradition dates back to 1655, when all of England was devastated by the bubonic plague. During these terrible years, people were afraid of the spread of infection, and the mayor of London issued a special decree that regulated how to deal with the bodies of dead people in order to avoid the spread of contamination and infections.

It was then that it was decided to bury the graves to a depth of 6 feet (2 meters). Many people doubted that this was the right decision because the infection was primarily carried by insects rather than dead bodies.

Be that as it may, this standard remains to this day.

In the US, for example, the depth standard varies from state to state. In many cases this is 18 inches. It turns out that the authorities of some states believe that one and a half meters is quite enough. But there are also cases when dead people are placed at a depth of 4 meters: this is done so that there is room on the surface for other dead people. Typically, this procedure is used in the case of relatives and close people.

2 meters depth is considered the most common standard today. Depths greater than this can cause problems, for example in New Orleans, where there are many underwater currents. Moreover, there have been cases where coffins, buried too deeply, were pushed out of the bottom of the soil.

In Great Britain, for example, people adhere to the same standard adopted several centuries ago. It is clear that the reason is completely different. Special services urge people to take precautions: coffins must be buried at such depths that animals cannot dig up the grave and expose the body or coffin.

First, it's a compromise. You cannot bury it too close to the surface so that the corpse, for example, is not dug up by animals, so that it is not exposed in heavy rain, etc.; but digging too deep is lazy and difficult.
However, in the modern English-speaking world, “six feet” is more of an idiom than a real rule. The dead are buried at different depths, depending on local conditions and customs.

Some associate this directly with church customs. In Christianity, the ground for burials is sanctified, and only its upper three meters are “sanctified.” Therefore, the desire to bury the deceased precisely at such a depth is associated either with historical habit or with religious views.

We find examples in the literature of how suicides, actors (at that time considered sinful) and other unworthy people sought to be buried either behind the cemetery fence or below the level of three meters.

Among other things, you can start from purely pragmatic approaches. In our latitudes, the depth of freezing of the ground is up to 180 cm (just 6 feet). Above this level, water in the soil freezes in winter and melts in summer - expanding and contracting. Accordingly, everything that is not at an insufficient depth moves and shakes. Below the freezing level, the dead are somehow calmer. Coffins will last longer.

Since ancient times, people have buried their dead. Accompanied by the mourning living, the dead go back to the land from which they came. Funeral rites were present in all cultures, although sometimes they had significant differences. One of the most common methods of burial was and remains burial in earthen graves.

In addition to ritual burial, burial also has important practical significance. Having said goodbye to the soul, the body loses its vitality and begins to rapidly decompose. This process poses a serious danger to living people; the corpse substances released during decay can be deadly.

It is even worse if the death was caused by an infectious disease. Horrible epidemics that claimed thousands of lives were often caused by the opening of old graves and the release of pathogens dormant there.

How to conduct a burial ritual correctly? What depth of the grave will allow one to comply with all the requirements of the ritual and prevent possible dangers to the health of living people?

The depth of digging a grave is determined by several factors. The grave must reliably protect the body from erosion by groundwater, natural disasters (for example, landslides), and tearing by animals. Consequently, it cannot be located either too deep, where it would be threatened by ground water, or too shallow.

The first of the Russian rulers who realized the need to formulate and observe certain sanitary rules determining how deep the grave should be was Peter the Great. In 1723, by his highest decree, he ordered graves to be dug to a depth of at least 3 arshins, which is just over 2 meters in the modern system of measures.

With such a command, the ruler hoped to prevent possible epidemics, and, as time showed, he was right. Failure to comply with the decree and the poor condition of cemeteries led to the plague in 1771. Alexander I introduced penalties for “funeral crimes” - failure to comply with the norm for the depth of the grave.
But the problem did not disappear; there was a catastrophic shortage of cemeteries and space for them. Cases of burying new dead people in old graves were the norm. Only at the very end of the nineteenth - beginning of the twentieth century the situation began to change, clear instructions were developed, it was determined to what depth the grave was dug and how cemeteries were arranged, and serious control was created over the implementation of these instructions.

Depth of the grave according to sanitary standards
The construction of cemeteries is stipulated in detail by federal legislation and regulations of local authorities. All rules are based on clearly formulated and time-tested and experience-tested sanitation and environmental standards.

What determines the depth of a person’s grave?
- Earth.
The deceased returns to the earth, and the depth of the grave will largely depend on its properties. Two meters deep, the soil must be dry and light, allow air to pass through, otherwise a cemetery cannot be built on such land.
- Water.
The body must be protected as reliably as possible from contact with groundwater. This is necessary in order to avoid contamination of water with products of putrefactive decomposition of organic substances. Therefore, it is strictly forbidden to locate cemeteries in areas where groundwater is more than two meters deep from the surface of the earth. It is the properties of the soil and the level of groundwater that must be guided when determining the depth of the grave in each specific area.
- Natural disasters.
It is logical to ban the construction of cemeteries in areas prone to frequent landslides and landslides, flooding, and in swampy areas.
- Culture and religion.
Some religions have clear instructions for each stage of the life of believers, including for the construction of a grave and burial. Of course, they must be observed in strict accordance with sanitation requirements, otherwise serious problems cannot be avoided.

Depth of the grave according to GOST.
There is GOST R 54611-2011 - these are household services. Services for organizing and conducting funerals. General requirements
All circumstances affecting the grave itself and ensuring sanitary safety were carefully reworked and formalized in the form of federal law. It is called “On burial and funeral business”, and all actions in this area must be coordinated with it.

The maximum depth of the grave pit should be no more than 2.2 meters. Further immersion risks close contact with ground waters. Depending on local conditions, the depth may vary, but the distance to groundwater in any case should be at least half a meter.
The minimum depth according to the law is one and a half meters (measured to the coffin lid).
The minimum dimensions of a grave pit are 2 meters long, 1 meter wide, 1.5 meters deep. The size of children's graves may be reduced. The distance between grave pits should not be less than a meter on the long side and less than half a meter on the short side.
A slab or an embankment must be installed over the grave. There are also certain requirements for it, so it should be no more than half a meter in height. The embankment is an additional protection of the grave from the effects of surface water; it should protrude beyond the edges of the grave pit.
If the deceased is buried in a sitting position, it is necessary to ensure that the layer of earth above him is at least one meter thick, including the grave mound.
In exceptional cases of establishing mass graves, they are dug to a depth of at least two and a half meters (when burying coffins in two rows). The bottom of the grave pit, of course, should not reach the groundwater level by at least half a meter. The top row of the burial is separated from the bottom by at least half a meter.

Compliance with the rules for the construction of cemeteries and a certain depth of digging graves ensures the sanitary safety of the population and must be followed everywhere.

In paragraph 10.15 of the Recommendations “On the procedure for funerals and maintenance of cemeteries in the Russian Federation” MDK 11-01.2002 the table is given:
when burying a coffin with a body, the depth of the grave should be set depending on local conditions (the nature of the soil and the level of groundwater); in this case, the depth must be at least 1.5 m (from the surface of the earth to the lid of the coffin). In all cases, the mark of the bottom of the grave should be 0.5 m above the groundwater level. The depth of the graves should be no more than 2-2.2 m. The grave mound should be built 0.3-0.5 m high from the surface of the earth .

In the sanitary rules SanPin 21.1279-03, which have become invalid since the introduction of SanPiN 2.1.2882-11, in section 4 “hygienic requirements for the organization of burials and rules for the operation of cemeteries”, clause 4.4 established that when burying a coffin with a body, the depth of the grave should be set depending on local conditions (the nature of the soil and the level of groundwater), at least 1.5 m.

This standard is not specified in the new SanPin 2.1.2882-11. So all graves are dug according to the recommendations from paragraph 10.15 “On the procedure for funerals and maintenance of cemeteries in the Russian Federation” MDK 01/11/2002.

"Save me, God!". Thank you for visiting our website, before you start studying the information, please subscribe to our Orthodox community on Instagram Lord, Save and Preserve † - https://www.instagram.com/spasi.gospodi/. The community has more than 49,000 subscribers.

There are many of us like-minded people and we are growing quickly, we post prayers, sayings of saints, prayer requests, and timely post useful information about holidays and Orthodox events... Subscribe. Guardian Angel to you!

Sooner or later, every person has to experience the pain of losing a loved one. In the Orthodox religion, it is customary not to bury a person, but to bury him in a cemetery. But probably few people have thought about why the dead are buried at 2 meters. It should be noted right away that this is a global standard, but it may vary slightly in one direction or the other depending on the region.

History of the standard

In English there is a phrase "six feet down". It means death or funeral, because 6 feet means 2 meters. This tradition dates back to 1655. At that time, there were a large number of deaths in England due to the plague disease.

For this reason, people were very afraid of the infection, which spread very quickly. To protect the population from infections, London issued a decree to make burials exactly 6 feet. That’s why they bury them at two meters, because from such a depth, according to the measure, the infection cannot spread. Many people disagree with this opinion. But be that as it may, this tradition remains alive to this day.

Why do they bury to a depth of 2 meters - modern version

Of course, modern people try to adhere to traditions regarding digging grave pits. But as mentioned above, its depth may vary slightly depending on the region. This is due to the fact that each region has different climate conditions. After all, when burying, it is very important to choose the depth of the grave in order to protect the body as much as possible from groundwater and to prevent animals from digging a hole and tearing the body apart.

Brothers and sisters in Christ. We need your utmost help. We created a new Orthodox channel in Yandex Zen: Orthodox world and there are still few subscribers (20 people). For the rapid development and delivery of Orthodox teaching to more people, we ask you to go and subscribe to the channel. Only useful Orthodox information. Guardian Angel to you!

The depth of the grave depends on the following factors:

• Earth. It should be light and airy, allow air to pass through and be dry. Otherwise, a cemetery cannot be established on land that does not meet the standards.
• Water. The body should be protected as much as possible from groundwater entering it. First of all, this is done in order to avoid contamination of water with products of putrefactive decomposition of organic substances.
• Natural disasters. It is not allowed to establish a cemetery in areas where landslides, landslides and floods often occur.

According to GOST standards, the grave pit should have a length of 2 meters, a width of 1 meter, and a depth of 1.5 m to 2.2 m. What kind of pit the cemetery workers will dig also depends on local conditions. The main thing is that standards are not violated.

The Lord is always with you!

Incredible facts

The topic of death is an unspoken taboo for a very large number of people. People try not to talk about this or even mention it. Fearing our own death, the death of our loved ones, we push this topic to the back of our minds, not wanting to think or talk about it. But this is an inevitable part of our life.

Today we will tell you about where the tradition of burying bodies at a depth of two meters came from.

All over the world, people are buried in graves of approximately the same depth - 2 meters. The established standard has certain reasons for this, going back to the most ancient times.

Why are they buried two meters away?

It all started with the plague. In 1655, the whole of Great Britain was covered by the bubonic plague. The Black Death literally devastated the country, and large cities, where many people lived, suffered especially. All the streets of London were full of bodies, the city was suffocating from the number of dead, their number numbered in the thousands, and no one understood where to put them all, what to do.

The mayor of London decided to bury people at a depth of 6 feet (2 meters) in order to stop the sources of infection. The municipality issued a "Plague Infestation" order, which stated that "all graves must be at least 6 feet deep."

© ErikdeGraaf/Getty Images

As a result, the law extended both to England itself and to its colonies. Modern American burial laws vary from state to state, although many simply require a 45cm distance from the ground to the coffin or burial vault.

Why is it buried at a depth of 2 meters?

Without any safety standards, several years after soil erosion, the bones of the deceased could suddenly appear on the surface of the earth, frightening the living and acting as vectors of disease. The minimum standard depth helps keep the dead person where he belongs.

This standard eventually spread throughout the planet. He is supported to this day.

As for Russia, there is a GOST, which states that the maximum depth of the hole should be no more than 2.2 meters, so as not to accidentally touch groundwater. The minimum depth is 1.5 meters, and this figure is also regulated by GOST.

Unusual cemeteries

Now let's talk about the most unusual cemeteries in the world.

Of course, in itself, the cemetery is a somewhat creepy place with which people do not have the most pleasant emotions. However, in our selection the cemeteries are very interesting, with many legends, stories and facts associated with them.

Savannah Airport, Georgia, USA

You may be surprised that the photo shows an airport runway, but it is actually a cemetery. At Savannah Airport, under runway 10, lie the bodies of the Dotson couple. The husband and wife formerly lived in an old house in what is now the airport and were buried nearby on the property. The airport negotiated more than once with the couple's relatives about moving the grave, but they never received consent, and this cannot be done without the consent of the relatives.

Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires, Argentina

The cemetery is architecturally incredible, but that is not why it is included on the list. It's all about the scary and completely unusual stories that it stores. Evita Peron is buried in this cemetery, and there are always fresh flowers on her grave.

Lying next to her is a young girl, Rufina Cambaceres, who was buried alive and woke up from a coma right in the coffin. Also near Evita there is the grave of a poor gravedigger, David Alleno. He spent 30 years collecting money to buy himself a burial plot. After he had the required amount in his hands, the man committed suicide.

Hanging Coffins of Sagada, Philippines

The vast majority of people in the world are accustomed to the fact that cemeteries are located underground; in the Philippines there is a tribe of Igorots who bury their dead not just anywhere, but in the air. A cemetery always hangs over the people of this tribe.

Sapanta Merry Cemetery, Maramures, Romania

This cemetery has become a real tourist attraction. The monuments in this cemetery are painted in bright colors, so the atmosphere is not at all mournful, and most of the epitaphs are funny or even satirical.

Highgate Cemetery in London, UK

This cemetery is one of the most famous in England, and all because every statue and every crypt here is a work of architectural art. However, among other things, the cemetery is famous for its large number of ghosts. For example, a tall Highgate vampire with a hypnotic gaze. Another ghost is a mad woman who runs around the cemetery in search of the children she killed.

Greyfriars Cemetery, Scotland

This cemetery is very old and has quite a rich history. It was created in the 1560s at the local prison. A total of 1,200 people were imprisoned in the prison, of which only 257 people left it safe and sound, while the rest were buried here.

Today, few people dare to enter the cemetery at night. They say that a person will not be given peace by the souls of the innocently killed.

Island of San Michele, Venice, Italy

Most people do not like to visit cemeteries, and some are even afraid to be there. How would you feel about an entire island of the dead? There is such an island in Venice.

At some point, it turned out that the burials of people on the main territory of Venice began to lead to unsanitary conditions; all the dead began to be buried on the island of San Michele. To this day, this is done in a special gondola.

Today in our article we will look at a not very pleasant topic, however, people are often interested in it, so we simply could not pass it by. It's about why people are buried 2 meters down.

To begin with, it must be said that 2-meter depth is not a standard at all, but approximately this distance is accepted for use in many countries.

Despite the fact that 2 meters depth is not a standard, approximately this distance is used in many countries and has already become a kind of rule. And such a standard goes back, interestingly, quite far, and to be precise - to the 17th century.

History knows many cases of all kinds of epidemics, but the disaster that overtook England in 1655 left an irreparable mark. We are talking about the bubonic plague epidemic that hit the kingdom.

People became infected with the disease in the thousands, tens of thousands, resulting in a very high mortality rate. And even when infected people died, there remained a very high probability of infecting other residents of the country. That is why the Mayor of London decided to introduce a depth standard for the burial of the dead. Taking into account a different metric system from ours, the decree set a standard of 6 feet, which is approximately equal to the same 2 meters below ground level.

The decree was immediately implemented, and although the feasibility of this decision was discussed for a very long time, this standard has remained to this day and is actively used in many countries.

The feasibility of using the standard today

Of course, today the issue of plague infection does not bother people either in England or in other countries, but the approximate standard for burial depth remains the same. And there is a rational explanation for this. The fact is that a burial depth of 2 meters allows you to be sure that all kinds of animals will not be able to dig a grave.

At the same time, some people decide to bury their relatives at a greater depth, for example, 4 meters. This allows you to leave one more place in the cemetery for relatives.

It is also worth noting that in some countries and individual cities, for example, in many US states, people are buried at shallower depths. For the USA, the standard is 18 inches, which does not exceed half a meter. However, it is the two-meter coefficient that is the unspoken standard used in most countries.