water burial

Water burial is a funeral custom where human remains are consigned to water. This practice is reflected in the myths of many cultures, often involving a god-hero sailing away in death with a promise to return. Consequently, the bodies of chiefs and heroes were frequently set adrift on rivers and oceans in "death ships." This custom was widespread from Iceland to England during the 7th and 8th centuries CE, with notable ship burials excavated, such as the one at Sutton Hoo in England.12

Water burials have been common in various cultures, including the Pacific Islands, where the dead were placed in canoes and launched onto the water. In some instances, bodies were simply laid on reefs or wrapped and weighted with stones. In Western cultures, water burial is still occasionally practiced for those who die at sea. Scattering ashes on water is also a common practice, particularly in Asia, and in India, a bone-throwing ceremony concludes Hindu death observances, with remains often cast into the Ganges River.12