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| (Holmes and Parnell, 2011) |
Regarding present day burial rituals and disposal of the dead, there is a new option available in the United States for the avid sportsman, police officer, military personnel, or ex-husband(wife) in your life offered by an Alabama company called Holy Smokes LLC, which will load cremation ashes into ammunition for a final blast off (Holmes and Parnell, 2011). You would have thought that this would have been inspired by Hunter S. Thompson and his pal Johnny Depp, but the idea came to two law enforcement officers, Thad Holmes and Clem Parnell, two good old boys from Arkansas, when their thoughts turned to their own demises (Holmes and Parnell, 2011). Legend has it that one said to the other, one fateful evening,
"I want my ashes put into some turkey load shotgun shells .... That way I will rest in peace knowing that the last thing that one turkey will see is me, screaming at him at about 900 feet per second."(Holmes and Parnell, 2011).
For $850 one pound of the deceased remains can be respectfully tamped into 250 shotgun shells, though pistol and rifle rounds are also available (Holmes and Parnell, 2011). The rounds can be placed on the mantle in engraved wooden boxes, fired in a 21 gun salute, fired at game, or shot at a photo of your choice, as well as many other possibilities.
If fired, these bullets could potentially be found logged in a decaying tree, in an eroding hillside, in the remains of a butchered animal, or preserved within house structures by future archaeologists. What would this say about us? Archaeologists could possibly surmise that this must have been a society with a strong emphasis on hunting with meat subsistence or had militaristic tendencies. It could also be thought that we used hunting magic, using the spirit of our ancestors in the bullets to guide the shots for more success in the hunt. If found in the home in a place of importance, like the mantle, and the use of bullets unknown to the archaeologist, they could perhaps think that the bullets were reliquaries where remains of revered ancestors were placed. Ritualized cannibalism may also be suggested if there was evidence that an animal, killed with the bullets, was consumed and ashes were found in association with it.
When I first heard about this method of disposing of the dead I was shocked, I tell you, shell shocked. After consideration, however, I could see how some would find getting blasted at 900 ft per second a bang on way to go, even if it is not my preferred method. Even in death you would have power over the lives of other beings, to protect and feed, be able to go far and fast, and have your remains dispersed in a climatic explosion. Fire Away!
Holmes T. and Parnell C., 2011. Holy Smoke. [online] Available at: <http://myholysmoke.com/> [Accessed 23 January 2012].
