if you've read the book stiff: the curious lives of human cadavers by mary roach....?

Question

What were the alternatives to burial or cremation that she mentions in the book?

Answer 1

I haven't read it, but the main alternative I know of is Towers of Silence. This is a traditional Zoroastrian method of corpse disposal, in which the deceased is lain on a bier for vultures to consume. This is because the corpse is considered unclean, while the elements of earth and fire are ritually pure and must not be contaminated. The bones are eventually placed in an ossuary, which is a pit near the Tower. Most Zoroastrians live in the Middle East and the Indian Subcontinent. However, use of Towers of Silence was outlawed in Iran in 1970 and has become impractical in India and Pakistan due to a critical decline in vulture population.