Burial at sea

A method of disposing of a corpse. The body is submerged in water and then carried away by the current, or the flesh is left for fish to eat. In Northwestern America and Melanesia, this burial method was mainly used for slaves and people of low status. In the Melanesian islands, it is believed that burial at sea will reincarnate the dead as a sea animal. In Tibet, the dead of barren women or those who have died of serious illnesses are wrapped in leather bags and thrown into the water to ward off evil spirits. In India, the ashes of the cremated remains are scattered in the sacred Ganges River. Boat burial is a more formal form than water burial, where the body is abandoned in the sea or elsewhere, and the body is put on a boat and sent out to sea. It is natural that boat burials are seen among maritime peoples, given their natural environment. In the Pacific Ocean, it is popular among Polynesian islanders, and also in Micronesia and Melanesia. Among the ancient Germanic seafaring peoples, boats were also lit on fire, and burial at sea was combined with cremation. Instead of boat burials, there was also a style of burial in which the deceased was placed in a boat or a boat-shaped coffin, which can be said to leave traces of boat burials.

In Japan, it is said that in the Muromachi period, those who died from epidemics were dumped into the Kamo River in Kyoto, and that there was a custom of throwing the bones and ashes of cremated remains into Lake Togo in Hawai Onsen, Tottori Prefecture. Even today in Japan, coffins are generally called "fune" and coffins are called "ofuneiri." In addition, coffins are called "nori-fune" on the Shima Peninsula, and funeral attendants are called "funaudo" on the Hitachi coast. There are several materials that seem to be evidence of boat burials.

[Jun Shimizu]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

死体を処理する方法の一つ。死体を水中に役げ込んで水の流れにのせて流し去ったり、魚がその肉を食べてしまうのにゆだねる。北西部アメリカやメラネシアなどでは、この葬法はおもに奴隷や身分の低い者に対して行った。メラネシア島嶼(とうしょ)部では、水葬することにより死者は海獣に再生すると考えられている。チベットでは子を生めない女性の死者や悪い病気による死者を皮袋に包んで水に投じ、邪気を祓(はら)う。インドでは火葬の骨灰を聖なるガンジス川にまく。海などに死体放棄をするやり方の水葬よりも整った形式をもつのが舟葬であり、死体を舟に乗せて海へ送り出す。舟葬が海洋民族にみられるのは、自然環境からいっても当然のことである。太平洋では、ポリネシア諸島民の間で盛んであり、ミクロネシア、メラネシアにも及ぶ。古代ゲルマンの海洋民族では、舟にはさらに火がつけられ、水葬と火葬が結び付いていた。舟葬のかわりに舟や舟形の棺に死者を入れて埋葬する形式もあり、舟葬の痕跡(こんせき)を残すものといえる。

　日本では、かつて室町時代に疫病の死者を京都の賀茂(かも)川に流したとか、鳥取県はわい温泉の東郷池に、火葬の骨や灰を投げ込む風習があったと伝えられている。また、日本では今日でも、棺のことを一般にフネとよんだり、入棺のことをオフネイリとよんだりするし、また志摩半島では棺のことをノリフネといい、常陸(ひたち)の海辺では葬儀の世話役のことをフナウドというなど、舟葬の痕跡を物語ると思われる材料がいくつか残っている。

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