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What do you know of burials in the old days of people being buried not knowing they had buried a person that was still alive! I have heard of coffins with air tubes to the surface and a bell attached to a string.

Yes,it happened alot.I have seen pix of grave after grave with the bells and the tubes too.What a horrible thing,I couldnt even imagine.

from the story "For Whom the Bell Tolls"

this is what they are talking about. So many people were being buried alive - in a coma or just passed out... they started burying them with a pipe and string going out of the coffin and a bell on the surface..

It was a plague back in the day, it caused the person to go into a temporary comma, their breathing slowed and even their heart rate and it would last for days. Back then when a person was beileved dead they were buried fast to prevent the body decaying, hence it lead to embalming.....later down the road.

This is a good reason to provide embalming or cremation.

You definitely don't want to make the mistake of burying someone who is still alive...could be a lawsuit in the future now-a-days.

I have heard of this.. but then how many people actually stay around the cemetary. Besides us of course. Now the cemetaries are more interesting... German families do the upkeep around their own family graves. There is a staff doing groundskeeping but if you dont keep the gravesite looking you get a note then if I remember right they can fine you. Spent pleanty of time cleaning my in laws gravesite.. It can be alot of fun.

I lived in German form 89-92
I lived in a little village called Stelzenburg, outside of Kaiserslautern.
There was an awesome cemetery outside my window.

The families reused the graves... when some one new(ly dead) came along (went away) the removed the remains of the prior occupant and but them in the family crypt..

What did they do if there was a mass murder and numerous family members died? I have no idea...

Ive heard that when the coffins were put in the chambers instead of in the ground the coffins would be built to where they could be opened from the inside and then there would be a bell on the door of the chamber so that they could ring it to let people know that they were alive.

If I remember right the German plots are for ten years and then are reused unless the family asks (pays) for more time.

This is a historical tie in to how vampires and zombi were born, since the plaques as mentioned above, all bodies were cast into graves.

The bell tied at the other end was to inform the caretaker of a still living individual. Since some of the victims were so out of it, consious wise, they did not bother with the bell, but rather dig their own way out of the graves, which gave the impression of the walking dead...Since the individual sought out their immediate families and or former homes. Many Romanian myths were based on this concept.

Now adays, the choices of cremation and embalming became quite clear. Mistakes of the past to this degree, could clearly not be repeated. Simple childhood stories boogeyman stories taken from actual events.

A couple of intrigueing factors, were the bodies of the recently deceased, being dug back up and looking as though they were still alive, vampiric, were caused by being burried alive and given the victim has a week without food nor water, their bodies would still be warm and without signs of decay when they were exhumed.

Forgive part of my last post, the bodies were given bells, after the fact that they were beginning to rise and mistaken for dead.

My apologies.

Herein lies a very good topic. I have heard of the practice of tying bells over graves, to- as most have already said- make sure that the dead were really dead. Anyway, I don't know much about this subject but I'm really interested. Can anyone share any links?

I saw something on the history channel regarding this, but I don't remember the name of the program... anyway, I'd hate to be the guy whose job it was to sit in the cemetary and wait for the bell to ring.

Hell, I would love a job like that...To save a life through digging up a grave may be a bit on the eerie side, but hell...I think it would be worth it.

I do not think anyone would have that sort of save under their belt.

how eerie would it be to be working a night shift alone in a graveyard and the wind picks up several bells!? i just got the heebie jeebies thinking about it.

I think it would be less-scary if you had a bunch of friends with you.

i heard that they stab them and to see if they are dead and then bury them

I can see this happening a long time ago. They could presume someone was dead and bury them alive

Hey, I did some more investigation and found two good sites:

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/gruesome/buried.asp

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/horrors/a/buried_alive.htm

More good Sites:

http://www.kirchersociety.org/blog/?p=233

http://www.americanartifacts.com/smma/life/life.htm

http://www.deathonline.net/what_is/safety.cfm

http://noumenon.roderickrussell.com/necrovoyeurism-watching-the-dead-in-vermont

I think it was a good idea, bearing in mind that so many were in fact buried alive.

I can imagine it put peoples minds at rest.

many believe this is how the myth of a vampire was formed. people returning to their homes without a clue after they were buried. and than to be killed in the ways od dealing with the undead. A sad part of our history.

very interesting stuff!
i remember learning a little about this in school
and was thankful it couldn't happen to me, with embalming standards now..
i've learned even more from this post

just a little side point that i didn't see anyone mention (although i could have missed it and apologize if i did)
the burying of people with tubes for air and bells, lead to the term "graveyard shift" since people were assigned to listen for the bells at night

I think in a modern graveyard, the possability of an airline and bell on top of the grave would be subject to vandalism, therefore, making the probability of being rescued minimal.

i believe there is evidence of coffins where, upon exhumation, scratch marks were seen on the inside.

too creepy.

I have heard about this too, but I have also heard that there is a drug that can slow everything down ( heart, breathing, etc....), I've heard of people with in the last 100 years or so have given it to others and they have been buried alive

I had a friend in High School that said he was sent to the morgue while in a coma.. But someone noticed his coloring was too good so they sent him back..

Well I have heard the bell and tube stories then there is the barried alive because someone doesn't like them.......that is why I try to be nice to people or at least not annoy them to much.

That where the term "Bats in your belfry" came from. At night bats may land on the bells and ring them, causing the care taker to waste time checking on the buried.

Edgar Allen Poe hit on this with his Premature Burial... in Victorian England, it was quite the thing to be buried with a small chain wrapped around the hand of the deceased and it running up to above ground or in a tomb attached to a bell, so if the person did awaken, they could sound for help.

This was a huge concern for some time in the 1800s of being buried alive.

That is exactly right Lumiya, they tried to detect it.

Now at days bodies are embalmed so that there is no chance that they are still alive.

They're embalmed, but sometimes not before the body snatchers get to them.

Here's a link to the body snatcher article:

BodySnatcher

BloodMother, It looks like you not even safe after your dead!

Daywalker

I've herd of it, and thank god they have better stuff to tell them you are not dead now a days. Think waking in a coffin? I hate small spaces as it is.

The only preventative thing I've heard of people doing is the whole "bell attached to a string that's attached to their arm in the coffin" idea. Even if they WERE found.....how traumatizing that would be for them!

Things to do if you think someone is dead but you're not sure:

1. check for a pulse (I can never find one on myself or anyone else).

2. shake them and yell their name real loud.

This is a very creepy discussion question. I have nightmares about it quite often. Hmm, I wonder if that means that it might have happened to me in a past life? That would be interesting to find out...

Ihave heard of this happening back when they had plagues and things like that.I could never imagine it happening now though.

what would be worse... buried alive or drowning?

buried alive would be slow - you would know what was coming - but I believe you would pass out and not know it.

drowning world be quick- but you would be fighting the whole time

I've never actually done any research on this subject. Although, my guess would be that a main cause for someone being buried alive as a form of torture. Either that, or if someone had a heart attack and was still alive but had a weak pulse and it wasn't noticeable or, something. I dunno lol Like I said, I'm just guessing here!

The ability and skill to detect a loss of life back in the olden days was much different. They may not be sure, so the added the belfry.

Now at day the body is embalmed, so the death detection is in the morgue or funeral home.

This is not a morbid subject at all btw. If you ever have had a loved one pass away and had to make the arrangement, this is a very valid subject.

i dont think it would be such a bad way to die at lest you would get reflect on your life and make peace with yourself

with todays technology I don't really think embalming is is very needed like it once was there are many other ways to make sure the person is dead without it. just draining the blood would do it.

check pulse, shake person, yell in their ear, drain blood. Maybe hold a mirror under their nostrils before draining.

I can't stand tight places and would use what ever air was left in the coffin up quick in a panic attack!

Not sure how accurate this is but there are many stories that this is where the term “saved by the bell” and “dead ringer” comes from.

From the web: "before modern embalming techniques were developed, people were found on very rare occasions to have been buried alive. It's most likely, however, that 18th and 19th century horror stories involving premature burial were inspired by the medical discovery that victims of suffocation and drowning could be resuscitated — that though they appeared dead, they really weren't. This was a frightening realization for many people.
In any case, so strong was the fear of "precipitate interment" during the 19th century that some of the wealthier folk were known to stipulate in their wills that their coffins be outfitted with signaling devices ... just in case."

Most of the Coffins back then were made too fit your body, larger at the head and narrow at the feet (like the old Vampire Coffins). The Coffin would fit you so tight that there would be no room to move. The coffins were not very thick from the bottom to the top and the lid would be very close to your face after being secured! Just something more for you to think about.

That's where the term saved by the bell came from :)

i know i wouldnt wanna be buried alive could you imagine like blackin out and everyone prounouces u dead because they really cant hear your heart beat and you wake up in a cluttered place screaming and scratching in the darkness wondering if your locked under a house or inside a door like a joke till your breath weakens and your actually notice this is gonna be your last breath and moment to live for and thats under ground lost and scared.

Our family has always had the fear of being buried alive, two have been in the last 200 years due to a genetic mutation of the nineteenth chromosome we carry that causes you to develop hyperpyrexia and drop into a deep coma in many stress related incidents.
Appearing much like death, should the person actually expire due to the condition their body gasses out and mummifies vs decomposes.
A possible conection to vampire lore eh?

i have heard of the bell...see back then they would bury people who were in acoma and they would wake in the ground.

I have never heard of that before, that is interesting. Would make sense that in the past they weren't very advanced in the medical field to determine between these things.

People say that by being Buried Alive there is no chance of being sent to the GODs gates

I have heard that being buried alive (after they did it by accident) became a new way to torture or punish the lawbreakers, or just to torture until they die. I bet the cemetary keepers on the graveyard shift just sat and slept and didn't even hear the bells. Much like people on graveyard shift do now...lol

Well, I guess it depends on how far you go back.

Most burials in Ancient Egypt wouldn't result in the person being burried alive.

But if you go back a few hundred years or so, I'm sure that it's a possibility that if a person was barely breathing or barely had a pulse, they could be mistaken for being dead.

It is my understanding that most of the evidence of this happening was found in the US and UK.

Okay - I'm heavily into the vampire myth, and the superstitions that surrounded them.

In Eastern Europe, hundreds of years ago, they didn't have the medical knowledge that we do today!! They didn't know any better. So to prevent sickness from spreading, they immediately buried the body.

There was a case of a man (i can't remember his name, I apologize) who was alive when they buried him. The next night, he had dug his way out of the grave and stumbled back to his house. Naturally, he smelled back, his eyes were blood shot, and he was filthy. His wife thought he was a vampire and called for help - They killed him!

And yes, being buried alive is in fact one of the things that led to the belief in vampire lore. This doesn't happen often anymore.

It almost happened to my cousin, however... Scary.

ah yes...i would have loved to work the grave yeard shift then...

It would be a good way to keep from killing more people.

um yeah whose getting buried tonight im kidding but seems this threats going well i still think it be scarry to wake up and actually realise u was and slowly die off

My cousin was fighting for his life after a car accident... A lot of massive internal injuries. And he fell into a coma, and his heart stopped.
So they took him to the morgue... The next day, his body was on the floor... His heart was beating so faintly that they could't detect it. And he recalled that as he tried to stand up, his body was so weak that he just fell on the floor... And woke up in a hospital bed a few days later.

He wasn't exactly buried alive, but they pronounced him dead!! It was frustrating, because we were told he passed away. Then, as my family was consoling my aunt and uncle, they called and said he was alive!
((He's perfectly fine~He's married and has a little girl, and he has a great job and all that yay!!))

So it can happen... in some rare cases even with today's technology.

I read and watched many things, and have never heard of this......dose anybody have a link where I can get more info on this subject....message me please

I have heard of that. Supposedly it happened quite often. I'd be willing to bet the cemetary workers got quite a scare when they heard a bell ring through the silence of the night.

Since it happened quite often there were several things they did back then to make sure someone had a way to alert if they were still alive....i distinctly remember the weird one of burying someone with a bell so they could ring it should they awaken in a coffin...

Hey Tamari, I did some more investigation and found two good sites:

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/gruesome/buried.asp

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/horrors/a/buried_alive.htm

http://www.kirchersociety.org/blog/?p=233

http://www.americanartifacts.com/smma/life/life.htm

http://www.deathonline.net/what_is/safety.cfm

http://noumenon.roderickrussell.com/necrovoyeurism-watching-the-dead-in-vermont

I do remember watching something one time where they had put bells with a string attached to them on the coffins to make sure that if the person was not really dead that he/she could be heard ringing the bell for someone to come dig them up.

Perhaps it's also got something to do with zombie legend as well as the vampire one...? I mean, if you'd just had to dig your way out of a grave you'd be a bit dazed, confused, then gradually angrier...

I would say that is were some legends came from. The zombie may even be brain damaged due to lack of oxygen or possibly even mentally disturbed due to the truama.

Yeah it was a very common thing in the 1800's. Count Karnice-Karnicki the Tsar of Russia actually came up with the whole tube and bell thing. There would be a box attatched to the tube at the top and at the bottom a glass ball laid on the persons chest. If someone was still alive and woke the glass ball would make an attatched spring open the box for light and air.

haha I can just imagine the words of someone who somehow escaped the coffin and came home: "I was out for a bloody five minutes! Couldn't you have waited that long?"

You should just burn the body in case, so there won't an argument over whether the person's dead or not later on.

This is very common in the renasounts period of time. but mainly it was for children and the rich but it happened alot

it was very common for this to happen. But it was mainly used for the rich and children. But yes it happened.

this all sounds painful

I've heard about this, but now that we are more medically and technologically advanced I guess there is no need to worry about it.

ive heared about this as well... i couldnt stand being buried alive no way no how could you imagine the feeling of that...

im running away from this topic :)

How do people know they accidently buried people alive unless the buried person was able to dig their way out of the ground or the person knew the one they buried weren't really dead. Otherwise the person just runs out of air and dies from suffercation.

Think about the pain

Greetings DarkSyn,

Coffins sometimes had to be dug up to for various reasons. Inside some of them they would find marks scratched into the lid of the coffin with wood splinters under the fingernails. They would also find eyes and mouths wide open and the arms would not be in the burial position.

I hope you sleep well tonight!

Daywalker

As was mentioned earlier... it was widespread throughout the UK and other parts of Europe during the 1800s to be prepared in case of being buried alive... Even had bells attached for the person inside to ring!

I've seen something on the history channel about that. They talked about how some one could be in such a deep sleep that they appeared dead or by some affliction and they would bury them. They talked about that they put the bells on the strings because people who woke up after burial would try to scratch their way out of the coffins.

Much had to do with the fear of being buried alive and how folks wanted to be treated after death. We all hope are wishes are fulfilled after death, hence wills, probate etc.. the Law is behind the wishes of one that have past.

There would be some comfort in knowing that you could alert the attendent if you did awake.

i wouldent know what to do if i was burried alive, i know it used to happen a lot, these days you are lucky to wake up in a mourge but you usually wont lol.

have you seen the movie burried alive, its quite intresting...i thought ill just throuw that in there lol

only thing recorded i have ever seen of someone being buried alive was for a punishment to a crime.

not real sure about that, but i to have seen a few pictures of the burials what a horrible thought that it is

I have heard of the bells, but not the air tubes. To be buried alive....what a scary thought!

To be buried alive would be 1 of the most scary things , and i cant even imagine how it would be. brrr

It was and still is a strange event that someones body shuts down to the point where it is believed to be dead. It still happens today. However our technoligy has improved a fair bit. I have read where someone was placed in the morge believing they were dead however this person could see, smell and feel everything around them however had no response when it came to test.

The body is a wonderous machine and it still can contain many secrets today.

I thought this was going to be a thread on Friday night's Eastenders (UK)! Storyline involving a wife burying her cheating husband in a coffin in the woods because it is his biggest fear...you know what i don't blame him, even though it's soap acting it looked pretty scary, especially when they filled the earth in on top of him!

I couldn't imagine how that would feel, especially if you were conscious

yea i heard the thing about the bells too, was on the history channel lol

ya it did any time someone was out for any unknow reason for to long the said they were dead as to ways of preventing it i dont know any other exept that the would put the body in a room of the house until everyone in the family could pay their respects to the body and sometimes the would wake up

What a scary thought.... Yes I have seen pics of the bells and tubes as well. I couldn't even imagine hearing that one of my relatives wasn't really dead, or being the person wrongfully buried. *shudders*

i think that would be scary but i have heard of it

Greetings ShadowKnight5107,

Maybe that's why they were called "Wakes" LOL

I did some more investigation and found some good links on this subject:

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/gruesome/buried.asp

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/horrors/a/buried_alive.htm

http://www.kirchersociety.org/blog/?p=233

http://www.americanartifacts.com/smma/life/life.htm

http://www.deathonline.net/what_is/safety.cfm

http://noumenon.roderickrussell.com/necrovoyeurism-watching-the-dead-in-vermont

i wouldnt want to be buried alive.. no one would hear the bell and i would really die for sure...

i heard back in the old days thats they did have to worry about burying people alive cause they didnt have the doctors and the technology to tell if you were actually dead or not

During the the time of plagues people used to come around to pick up the dead bodies. Some times people would put their almost dead family members out to be pickled up. That has to suck. So I can see where a lot of people could have buried alive in that time. And I have heard of the bell thing too.

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