Bodies, bones & overflowing churchyards: a history of graveyards

Burying the dead has never been a simple matter. Whether due to elaborate grave goods, unique burial rituals, or public health concerns, burial places through history have taken on a variety of unusual and intriguing forms. Roger Luckhurst tells Ellie Cawthorne more – from the ancient tombs of the pharaohs and the sky burials of Tibet, to the overflowing churchyards of 18th-century Paris and preserved bodies of 20th-century communist leaders.

Roger Luckhurst is the author of Graveyards: A History of Living with the Dead (Thames and Hudson, 2025).

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