Last Rites Trivia Quiz

Answer: Suicides

An upside-down burial position is not common in any culture. In Christian societies they would sometimes bury suicides and assassins in this position. It was done as post-mortem punishment and to inhibit the body from the activities of the dead.

Answer: Hold a smoking ceremony

The Northern Territory Australian Aboriginals smoke out the deceased persons home. This smoking ceremony is done in order to expel the deceased person's spirit from the home. The body is then covered in leaves and left on a platform to decompose.

Answer: Being buried alive

Immurement is the punishment of being buried alive, and is usually done as a particularly cruel means of execution. This was often done by bricking up the victim in the walls of a building. Death usually occurred from dehydration, asphyxiation or starvation. Examples of immurement can be found in cultures all over the world.

Answer: A funeral cart

A caisson is a two wheeled cart used for carrying a coffin to the cemetery. It originated in Britain as an artillery cart but became a funerary cart around the 17th century.

Answer: Removing the flesh and organs before burial

Excarnation is removal of the flesh and organs before burial. This can be done either by the person preparing the corpse for burial, or by leaving the body in the open air to decompose and be eaten by animals.

Answer: A table with holes and ice underneath to keep a body from decomposing

A cooling board was a table with holes. It had ice underneath and the deceased body was placed on it to slow the decomposition process. The holes allowed bodily fluids to seep out and was sometimes used for displaying the body. This was an American and English practice.

Answer: True

Dead bells were intricate little hand-bells that were rung during the walk from the church to the cemetery. These bells were supposed to scare off evil spirits and to call mourners to pray for the deceased.

Answer: Digging up a corpse

Exhumation is the digging up of a corpse. This may be done to move the deceased to a place that is closer to home or to check the manner of death. Exhumation is usually frowned upon in most cultures.

Answer: Zoroastrian

The Tower of Silence is the Zoroastrian practice of placing a corpse on a tall platform exposing it to buzzards and vultures. The birds were thought to rid the body of all dirty or evil parts.

Answer: False

Arvals (or arthels) were sweet cakes served to the poor during funerary dinners in England in medieval times. This was at a time when the corpse was publicly exposed so that the deceased was cleaned of sins.