|
Humans and animals may be buried alive intentionally (as a form of torture, execution), voluntarily (as a stunt, with the intention to escape), accidentally (e.g. under rubble due to a disaster or collapse of a building or cave), or unintentionally (in the mistaken belief that the living person is in fact dead).
Physics and biology If interment (burial) is not reversed within a short period of time, it usually rapidly leads to death, usually through one or more of asphyxiation, dehydration, starvation, or (in cold climates) exposure. Although human survival may be briefly extended in some environments as body metabolism slows, in the absence of air, loss of consciousness will take place within 2 to 4 minutes and death by asphyxiation within 5 to 15 minutes. If fresh air is accessible through a small passage to the surface, survival is more likely to be on the order of days (in the absence of serious injury). However, a person trapped within an air pocket can last considerably longer, and such methods have been used as a very cruel method of execution, since it can last sufficiently long for the victim to comprehend and imagine every stage of what is happening (being trapped in total darkness with very limited or no movement) and what will happen to them, and to experience great psychological and physical torment including panic and extreme claustrophobia. Accidental At least one report of accidental burial goes back to the 13th Century. Hundreds of instances of accidental burials were documented in the 1600s during epidemics of plague, cholera, and smallpox. Revivals have been triggered by dropped coffins, grave robbers, embalming, and attempted dissections. Patients in the 1990s have been documented as getting accidentally bagged, trapped in a steel box, or sent to the morgue. As punishment In ancient Rome a Vestal Virgin convicted of violating her vows of celibacy was buried alive in a tomb containing a small amount of bread and water, ostensibly so that the goddess Vesta could save her should she have been in actuality innocent. In the 17th and early 18th centuries in feudal Russia, the same mode of execution was known as "the pit" and used against women who were condemned for killing their husbands *. The last known case of this occurred in 1740. Voluntary burial On rare occasions people have voluntarily arranged to be buried alive, reportedly as a demonstration of their controversial ability to survive such an event. In one instance around 1840, an Indian fakir was buried in the presence of an English military officer and under the supervision of the local maharajah, by being placed in a sealed bag in a wooden box in a vault. The vault was then interred, earth was flattened over the site, and crops were sown over the place for a very long time. The whole location was guarded day and night to prevent fraud, and the site was dug up twice in a ten month period to verify the burial, before the fakir was finally dug out and slowly revived in the presence of another officer. The fakir said that his only fear during his wonderful sleep was to be eaten by underground worms.* Since many who have tried this amazing feat died as a result, being voluntarily buried alive is not legal in India. The apparent ability of humans to enter such states of suspended animation, which is commonly reported across many tribal and other cultures, has not been scientifically tested. Yet suspended animation in humans is currently undergoing testing, as it has been shown that hibernation induction trigger may have the potential to induce hibernation in humans.* In the years before Islam in ancient Saudi Arabia if one's firstborn child was a girl it would be thrown alive into a pit as soon as it was born. However, the teachings of the prophet Mohammed ended that practice. Other meditative techniques of biofeedback (such as yoga) which have been shown to be capable of temporarily slowing heart rate or metabolism by a very significant degree. Myths and Legends An urban legend circulated by e-mail, The Bad Old Days claims that the English idiom "saved by the bell" originated in medieval rope systems to alert surface dwellers in the case of accidental burial. In fact, the phrase originated in the sport of boxing, and there is no evidence of a widespread fear of live burial in the Middle Ages. Likewise, the term "dead ringer" has its origin in horse racing, and the unrelated phrase "graveyard shift" arose in the 20th Century. Pop culture See also | ||||||||
|
| |||||||||
 |
|
| |