Funerals

The Ilban people of East Borneo captured these six warrior skulls in a single battle. They tossed the heads into a fire pit to cure and then wrapped them in vines to suspend their prize from the rafters of the community longhouse.

Explore Haunting Relics of Death With New Photography Book

Placenta-wiping fetuses are only the tip of the frightberg

Prisoners bury a wooden coffin on Hart Island.

What Happens When a Homeless New Yorker Dies?

You should be quite relieved that you never have been, and hopefully never will be, on Hart Island

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Top Ten Afterlife Journeys of Notable People

Why Beethoven, Galileo, Napoleon and others never truly rested in peace

Esther Renee Adams, "Mamaw," was laid to rest in her own home. In the mountains of eastern Kentucky, such "country wakes" could last for days.

Capturing Appalachia's "Mountain People"

Shelby Lee Adams' 1990 photograph of life in the eastern Kentucky mountains captured a poignant tradition

Simeon Wright, 67, is Emmett Till's cousin and was with him the night Till was kidnapped and murdered.

Emmett Till's Casket Goes to the Smithsonian

Simeon Wright recalls the events surrounding his cousin's murder and the importance of having the casket on public display

The 1974 discovery of buried vaults at Xi'an filled with thousands of terra cotta warriors stunned the world.

Terra Cotta Soldiers on the March

A traveling exhibition of China's terra cotta warriors sheds new light on the ruler whose tomb they guarded

All in the family (Bob Baldwin (left: c. 1965) and Jim Alexander (right: c. 1960) led different lives-with very different endings.

The Surprising Satisfactions of a Home Funeral

When his father and father-in-law died within days of each other, author Max Alexander learned much about the funeral industry

Egyptian archaeologists work at an ancient burial ground in Saqqara, dating back to 2,700 B.C., where a 4,300-year-old pyramid has been discovered at the Saqqara necropolis. It was first built for Queen Sesheshet, the mother of King Teti who founded the 6th Dynasty of Egypt's Old Kingdom.

The Tomb of Queen Sesheshet

A recently discovered pyramid and tomb in Egypt may shed light on a dark episode in a pharaonic tradition of court intrigue

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Making Ends Meet

Iowa abbey monks craft fine caskets for the recently departed and "pre-Need" customers alike

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