Burial liner

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A burial liner (also known as a grave liner), in a burial of human remains, is an enclosure that is placed over a coffin, which is then buried in the ground. The casket serves as the inner enclosure of a deceased person; the liner serves as the outer enclosure.

A burial liner is similar to a burial vault. However, unlike a burial vault, the liner only covers the top and sides of a casket, whereas a burial vault completely encloses a casket. The bottom of the casket in this case is in direct contact with the ground. A burial liner serves to protect a casket during burial from being crushed and keeps the casket from being crushed when the heavy equipment that many modern cemeteries use passes over. The ground over the grave is kept from sinking in, and is kept even. Sunken graves become a hazard: people can trip over sunken graves and can injure themselves in the process. For those reasons, many modern cemeteries require that either a burial liner or vault be used in burials.

The use of burial liners is typical only in recent American history and is unheard of outside of the United States. The option to using a burial liner is to use a smaller casket and to pile the earth up over the grave in order to allow for settling as they do in Europe and other parts of the world. Green cemeteries and some religions discourage their use as they slow down the return of the body to the earth.