Cremation Myths: Busted

Do belly buttons burn during cremation? Do skulls explode? Do bodies sit up? Busted, busted and busted.

It’s normal for myths to circulate about lesser-known topics like cremation. It happens behind closed doors and not too many people have a cremationist friend they can turn to for advice. Nothing against cremationists, I’m sure they’re mostly fine people, just a bit rare in the scheme of things. In this article we debunk some of the myths around cremation and let you know the truth.

MYTH: Belly Buttons Don’t Burn In Cremation

Truth:

During a complete cremation process, all soft tissues, including the belly button, are fully incinerated.

Origin:

The myth that your belly button remains intact during cremation has been doing the rounds for a while now. You may have seen the question pop up on TikTok, Reddit, Quora and any number of other places. You may have even seen it stated as fact that belly buttons don’t burn up on (I know of at least two well known online funeral suppliers who have repeated this myth). The articles never give any evidence and they mostly sound like they are written by AI.

There are some reports from Hindu style cremations of left-over parts of flesh following cremation. This can happen when the body hasn’t been burned for long enough. If not enough fuel has been used then the fire won’t have had enough time to burn away all the flesh. According to some reports the remaining flesh congeals together at the body’s midsection, near the belly button. It is not that the belly button doesn’t burn.

Many cultures including Hindu have a reverence for belly buttons stemming from the link to nutrients and life during the womb. It is located near the Manipura chakra from Vedic tradition. It is understandable that Hindus may accept the notion that belly buttons don’t burn during cremation due to the special significance it has. However, during a full cremation, the belly button along with all tissue except for bone structure and teeth will burn completely.

Why it’s Not True

The parts of the belly button are essentially just made from skin, ligaments and fat which all burn during intense heat. These tissues around the navel are made of organic material, meaning they vaporize or oxidize when incinerated and essentially become steam and air (mainly carbon dioxide).

Funeral director Nikki answers this question here.

The belly button (or medically speaking, the umbilicus) is scar tissue remaining at the site of where your umbilical cord was attached to your abdomen.

Parts of the navel:

• Umbilical cord tip, the “button” at the center of the navel.
• Umbilical collar which goes around the navel and is made of dense fibrous material.
• Periumbilical skin which goes around the collar.
• Medial umbilical ligaments – connect to the bladder and were formed from the arteries that used to return blood to the placenta.
• Falciform/round ligaments – connect to the liver and were formed from the vein that used to carry oxygenated blood to the baby.
• Median umbilical ligament – connects to the bladder and was formed from the urachus which used to go from the bladder back through the umbilical cord.

All of these parts are made from organic tissues which do burn if given sufficient time.

MYTH: Skulls Explode During Cremation

Truth:

Due to numerous openings, skulls don’t have enough pressure to explode. Skulls do crack and can break apart from the intense heat but nothing like an explosion.

Origin:

This myth possibly stems from the notion that as the brain heats up, it could turn into steam, build pressure inside the skull, and cause it to explode, like an unpunctured potato in a microwave. Burned bodies have been found following house fires with their skulls broken and appearing to be missing parts. Sometimes the partially burned brain has leaked out of a broken skull, appearing to have caused the explosion.

Why it’s Not True:

The skull has many openings which will allow pressure to escape, preventing explosions. The largest of these is the “foramen magnum,” through which the spinal cord passes. There are other gaps behind the eyes and behind the nose. Any pressure build up from inside the skull during cremation would be released through these gaps in the skull.

Skulls do fracture and break but this is a slower process and not due to built up pressure. As they heat up, bones shrink and become brittle. This is due to losing around 30%-40% of their weight from water and organic tissue, mainly collagen from bone marrow.

Skulls usually burn from the top, where there is less skin and muscle cover. When the organic material around and inside the bones is burned away the bones can break, especially if something drops on them or they are sprayed from a fire hose for example.

The exploding skull myth was busted in a doctoral investigation published in the Journal of Forensic Science by Elayne Pope and O’Brian Smith in 2004. The study experimented with over 40 cadaver heads to investigate how they burned. The study found that “The skull simply does not explode regardless of the presence or absence of preexisting trauma”.

A related myth is that the skull is broken before cremation to let out pressure. As explained above this is not true because it is not necessary. Pressure can escape on its own through all the gaps in the skull.

MYTH: Bodies Sit Up During Cremation

Truth: 

Bodies do not sit up, but limbs can move during cremation. Arms can be raised at 45 degrees like a boxer as the process progresses. Knees can also bend. The body does not sit up but the back can arch slightly.

Origin:

The myth might have originated from the actual movement of arms and legs during cremation, which could lead to a misinterpretation of the body ‘sitting up’. Burn victims are often found with arms raised at their sides and knees bent, appearing to be in a state of movement. Some people may have taken this to mean they were actively sitting up.

Why it’s Not True

The burning of arms and legs can cause them to flex as muscles dehydrate and tendons shorten. Arms get drawn up and splayed, and knees can bend. This is known as the pugilistic stance or pugilistic posture. The burning also causes contractions in the back muscles which can cause a slight arching. For bodies to sit up, the abdominal muscles would need to contract strongly enough to lift the body. Because back muscles are stronger and because of the weight of the head any movement that the cremation causes is in the opposite direction to sitting up. 

MYTH: Bodies are Drained of Blood Before Cremation

Truth:

Bodies are not drained before cremation unless they are embalmed. Organs are not removed before cremation.

Origin:

Some people think that blood is drained before creation. I’m not sure why they think this. Maybe because they wonder if it would make the body easier to burn. A related myth is that organs are removed before cremation.

Why it’s Not True

Typically, bodies are cremated intact, without removing blood or organs. However, there are some exceptions:

• Blood is drained and removed if the body has been embalmed and it is replaced with chemicals related to formaldehyde. Embalming is not required for cremation but may have taken place if there has been a public open casket viewing.
• If the person was a medical donor then certain organs might have been removed. Again this is unrelated to cremation.

The only things that need to be removed are certain medical devices that could be dangerous such as pacemakers (can explode) and radioactive implants used for treating cancer.