What exactly is cremation? Cremation: a body is placed in a cremation chamber where, through heat and evaporation, it is reduced to basic elements. The initial cremated remains do not look like or have the chemical makeup of ashes. They are bone fragments. Only after preparation do they resemble ashes. Depending on body size, there are three to four pounds of fragments after cremation. Some crematories will process the remains, reducing the space they take up, while others may not.

Cremation began around 3000 B.C. in Europe and the Near East. During the Stone Age, cremation spread across northern Europe. During the Bronze Age, 2500 to 1000 B.C., it spread to the British Isles, Spain and Portugal. In Hungary and Northern Italy, cemeteries for cremation were developed and spread to northern Europe and Ireland.

By 800 B.C., cremation was the main mode of disposition in Greece, mainly for health reasons and fast burials of warriors. Around 600 B.C., Romans embraced cremation so much that an official decree was issued against the cremation of bodies inside the city. During the time of the Roman Empire, elaborate cremation urns were stored in columbarium-like buildings. Cremation fell out of favor in 400 A.D., and for the next 1,500 years, earth burial was the standard practice.

In 1873, Professor Brunetti of Italy perfected the cremation chamber and displayed it at the 1873 Vienna Exposition. In Britain, Sir Henry Thompson, surgeon to Queen Victoria, helped found the Cremation Society of England in 1874. The first crematories were built in Europe in 1878.

In North America, the first crematory was built in Washington, PA, by Dr. Julius LeMoyne. A second one opened in Lancaster, PA, and was operated and owned by a cremation society, as was the common practice of the time. Other driving forces behind the practice of cremation were the Protestant clergy, who wanted to reform burial practices, and the medical profession, who had concerns regarding conditions of the early cemeteries.

By 1900, there were 20 crematories in operation, and by 1913, when the Cremation Association of America was founded by Dr. Hugo Erichsen, there were 52 in North America performing over 10,000 cremations in that year. In 1975, the name was changed to the Cremation Association of North America, and there were 425 crematories performing 150,000 cremations per year. By 1999, there were 1,468 crematories and 595,617 cremations annually.

After cremation, the remains may be scattered or placed in an urn and interred in a family plot or placed in a columbarium. They may also be placed in a LifeGem, a certified, high-quality diamond that has been created from the carbon of cremated remains.

Formed in 2001, LifeGem is based in Chicago, IL, and can create diamonds between .25 and 1.3 carats by extracting the carbon from existing cremated remains and then heating it to extremely high temperatures under special conditions. The carbon in the ashes is mixed with the natural carbon used in the diamond growth process. The process converts the carbon into graphite. The graphite is then placed into a diamond press which uses heat and pressure to turn it into a diamond. The diamond cutters facet the diamond to your specifications, laser-etch the girdle and certify it for authenticity. The whole process takes about 18 weeks.

For additional information regarding LifeGem locations near you check out www.lifegem.com or call (888) 543-3436.

With living space decreasing cremation may be the wave of the future. Where you place the ashes or what you do with them is a matter of preference.