We do not turn into ashes after a cremation (despite what we all think).
Cremated remains typically consist of bone fragments and casket ash — there’s nothing really like “ash of the deceased.”
Once the cremation process is complete, the remains are put onto a silver baking tray, and most of the remains are bones. A technician consequently runs a magnet over these fragments to remove ferrous materials that did not combust during the cremation process. (Think of staples, screws, hinges, and prosthetic joints.)
What is left is then crushed into little pieces, so that she or he who receives the remains thinks they are ashes. But they are nothing but mangled bones.
An undertaker might be put off by this very idea, as it ruins the entire “ashes to ashes, dust to dust” idea in the first place.
On the other hand, when someone dies, they piss and poop due to the relaxation of muscles, as sphincters relax and allow feces and urine to pass. In cases of trauma — car accidents, murders, falls — pooping and peeing is even more prevalent.
An undertaker knows this, and might be alarmed by this very fact, and by the various manipulations which are done to the body of a deceased person (including stuffing cotton in bodily openings) in order to make it even remotely presentable to loved ones.
So in the end, the undertaker needs to decide between two distinct possible choices —
Bowels or bones.
SOURCES: image by Sofie Lind/Sveriges Radio.
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