Yes! Also more Chris in front of the camera, please.

@Kimmaline

5 жыл бұрын

I was looking for you in these comments!!!!

@atlasobscura

5 жыл бұрын

Ha! We'll let Chris know! Sure he's looking to get back out there to dig more graves...

@miaomiaochan

5 жыл бұрын

I was hoping to see your comment, and I wasn't disappointed. 😊

@toriladybird511

4 жыл бұрын

I came here on the Metal Cemetary recommended by you❤️

@konoha1993

4 жыл бұрын

Oh my god, I was just about to comment that "Caitlin Doughty would have approved of this"

thank you my parents can see my search history so i will be needing this

I love and completely embrace family participation in the complete burial process. I appreciate that families are not encouraged to actually dig the grave as emotional grief can manifest physically as well. We don’t need to bereaved to become injured or ill before burial. Another incredible video.🌿⚰️🍂

I always laugh at horror and murder movies where they show a guy digging a 6 foot grave in a half hour. My hats off to this guy!

Thank you for this respectful view of working for the dead. The hard work that goes into this phase of life is ignored in our society, yet we all die, so let’s celebrate the work of those who work so hard for us when we no longer can thank them. Excellent video!

@atlasobscura

5 жыл бұрын

@majed8192

5 жыл бұрын

Unless if someone suffers from depression, death is the kind of topic that human beigns in general try to avoide. Even when religion "prayers and such that mention death" is concerned I don't believe it's the same as actually contemplating death

Wonderful video. When I saw the water I remember my mum , she saw an newly dug grave, saw the water and said no to interment, we did place her ashes there but it was shallow enough for her. Sad tale but wonderful to bring mum back to the forefront. It's been too long.

This was so beautiful to watch. Our emergency services do so much for us but this, for me as someone who looks after people who at the end of life. This was lovely to watch.

I did this here in th UK for twelve years in the 70s-80s the ground was pure heavy clay and so dug with a 13" blade graf spade hence the saying hard graft or grafting all day, public graves could be 12-15ft deep close boarded all the way down soil hand winched up a sump hole at the bottom so the water could be drawn out, man it was hard graft but when one is young and fit it's just what you did. It was a great job 42 acre cematory in the suburb off London loved it.

The weird thing is Hollywood makes it seem like digging a grave is a 1 hour affair. I haven't dug a grave but I dug a 3 foot by 3 foot pit at the beach and it took hours with my 2 buddies.

@wildlifewarrior2670

Жыл бұрын

It'll take me five minutes

Thanks this...helped me out alot...um for my school project...yes project....

I feel like the FBI put my IP address on a list as soon as I clicked on this video.

I start digging my uncles grave tomorrow. Our family cemetery is in an area it's not easy to get equipment to dig. Will be thinking a out him and my grandpa who i will be digging beside

I once dug 4 small 1' or so deep holes for some plants. I almost died and later had a debilitating case of delayed onset muscle soreness for an entire week afterwards. Granted, it was in hard, rocky, compacted soil, but still.... I hope you were OK afterward!

@atlasobscura

5 жыл бұрын

Update: Chris is totally A-OK, but it was definitely hard work!

@googiegress7459

2 жыл бұрын

For future reference: sometimes digging the hole larger can help because it gives better shovel access, but really you should switch to a posthole shovel after the hole is deeper than it is wide. For a typical garden planting scenario, you just need to get the hole deep enough to drop in the dynamite. EDIT: Sorry, my actual original advice before all that faff was to suggest that you sharpen your shovel. Yeah! Nothing too crazy, don't act like you're in a sharpening contest between Japanese and German engineers or anything, but a little sharpening helps a lot.

Interesting topic and nicely done ✅

Wow, very interesting and insightful. I recently started an excavation / dirt work business. I don't think I could go 6 feet by hand but watching this video makes me consider offering the service of digging graves by hand to those who desire it. Thanks for sharing.

This was an unexpectedly interesting video. Thank you!

Very interesting and well done video. It reminded me of my mother's burial.

I've seen this place, it's beautiful.

Congratulations on completing your own challenge. You did great and should be proud of yourself. What was the music. That was beautiful.

Beautiful. Probably my fav AO video!

@atlasobscura

5 жыл бұрын

Aw thanks Brandi! We're so glad we got to make it.

Awesome cinematography.

My uncles used to dig graves back in the 30s. The stories I heard my mom tell.

@atlasobscura

5 жыл бұрын

Oooh, do you remember any of them?

@KateLove21

5 жыл бұрын

Please share!

@mmesuds

5 жыл бұрын

I had a great grandfather who dug graves. Unfortunately not much about him or his experience has made it down the line. Would you be comfortable sharing any stories?

@majed8192

5 жыл бұрын

@@atlasobscura Guess not...

Such an arduous task, and so significant. I want to know even more about grave diggers now.

Great soil composition for digging with just a few minor roots. The soil should be thrown as close to the edge of the grave as possible on every side for fast and easy burying later. You can then just slide heaps of it straight into the grave and save yourself a lot of work. I got scolded once for spreading the soil too wide and understood the purpose of this method.

I don't know why youtube recommended me this, but whatever it is, it wasn't me.

Watching this video again on 6th June 2024.

My goodness that looks really hard but oh what a honor it would be for ones family

Watch "Plan 9 From Outer Space" and you'll learn all you need to know about gravedigging and space aliens that resurrect the dead.

Good skill to have.

thx for letting me know how to dug a grave

my dad used to do this is newark when he was 11. the things you do you a quick buck.

Grave Digging, proof that no one can go it alone. We all go out needing a favor...

How long did it take you to dig it?

@atlasobscura

5 жыл бұрын

Just shy of five hours! Chris was a total champ. Professional grave diggers can get the job done around 3 to 4 hours, we're told, so for his first time doing it, he did an excellent job!

@peterelbee

Жыл бұрын

I work at a local cemetery. It is a old graveyard where a lot of the Graves have concrete on top of them. This requires concrete to be broken first. Depending on the thickness it can increase the time taken to dig. The soil varies in places around the cemetery from bedrock (requiring a breaker gun) to soft easy digging soil. Sometimes mud. A major requirement is to have two people on the job. One to dig the other to spot for cave ins. They swap responsibilities every now and then to give each of them a break.

@peterelbee

Жыл бұрын

One of the difficulties we face is that coffins have increased in dimensions over the years. Thus means the original size of the land alloted to the Graves were smaller than what is required for larger coffins. So we are forced to dig into the existing walls creating potential cave-ins. Coffins with fixed (not folding) handles make the job even more fun.

Come try it here in western Kentucky

a+

That's very difficult, especially if you keep running into tree roots

Greetings, and thank you for sharing this wonderful film! Many beautiful words from the heart had been spoken out of love. Forgive me, as I am not sure if this is the right place to ask the following forthcoming question. As a youngster, I have been interested in death, life-after-death/ afterlife and burial of the repose, the departed in this life who have gone before us. I am still a young lad, according to many, yet in my soul, I feel older at sometimes, only on the way many would say that of how I, by the grace of God, have understood or have been enlightened with my life, separate from the norm, some would say, yet at least from the ones my age or at times, even older than I. (I say this, because when I was eight and even today, when I speak about death or the word comes from my lips, my parents and other say to me, "O worry about that when it happens" or even sometimes, do not want to speak further about it and chance the subject.) I am not saying that I do not fear "death", for in a way I do, because I have not even begun to repent enough for my wretch lowly self. However, my way to gain is of the Orthodox Christian way. (Books: "The Mystery of Death", "A Christian Ending" and "O Death Where Is Thy Sting" -- those books have changed a lot of my mindset, and really helped me understand and appreciate the "Medicine" of Death; The Teacher.) I have already wrote My Last Will and Testament, a letter to those I will one day pass when my dreadful hour comes. In fact, I wrote part of this under a candle light, when I was still a teenager, now finished writing it in my early 30's, married and blessed with children, I call them, "the Fruits of Love". Thus, my question is, I have always been interested in becoming a gravedigger or even making wooden/ natural coffins, just as Orthodox-Coffins(dot)com do and explains on their webite's discribtion -- but, where can I start? Also, where in the state of Virginia is there to be found a cemetery the honours these views, as the same with the video, a natural or green burial? Once I asked my dear mother, if she can make my a shroud, and she looked at me puzzled. (haha) Pardon me, I have taken much of your time. Therefore, truly, I thank you and may God bless you with many years, that we may have many bitter-sweet tears of repentance to shed for our poor suffering soul from the passions. I pray that paradise consumes us whole. Amen+ with love in Christ, -- Konstantinos (kdoulgerakis@gmail)

@kathyschwartz9612

4 жыл бұрын

There is a web site that might not have your answers but could lead you in the right direction. It is called the Order of the Good Death and deals with a lot of the items you asked about, they may be able to help. The woman (Caitlin) who runs its also has a You Tube channel - Ask a Mortician, that discusses a lot about natural burial, shrouds and the like. I hope you find what you are searching for.

@jo-vf8jx

4 жыл бұрын

Konstantinos Doulgerakis there’s a KZread channel called Ask A Mortician, you should check it out. It answers many of your questions.

@halfmoonvector

2 жыл бұрын

Check out the Green Burial Council website for a directory of green burial cemeteries in each state.

Why did they fill it back in rather than use it?

@googiegress7459

2 жыл бұрын

Chris survived.

@MossyMozart

2 жыл бұрын

ncooty - When they will need the grave, it will be much easier to re-dig. So, public service!

My bf wants this job 🙄 perhaps is good 😊✨

Thank you, now I can finally bury the dead body in my garage

did you guys actually place a body or just fill the hole back up? i’m thinking the latter.

@atlasobscura

4 жыл бұрын

;)

Extremely soft ground.

When my father died I wanted to dig his grave because it was the traditional country way for family and friends to dig the grave of the deceased. When my shovel ricocheted off the red clay soil baked brick hard by the August sun, I decided tradition was fine but a backhoe was easier.

What you doing with your dirt in my yard Luke ?

My great grandfather was a grave digger.

Prepping for my math exam

Wait, did you dig a perfectly good* grave like that and fill it back in without using it for a (legal, proper, that the cemetery already had on their schedule) burial? It would seem such a waste... *Really much nicer than just "perfectly good," but you take my point.

@googiegress7459

2 жыл бұрын

Perhaps the only way for something to be better than perfectly good would be for it to have some artistic irregularity. Like tile-artists laying one tile backward as a gesture of humility.

30,000 years ago?, maybe a little more recently haha

We buried our mother ten days ago

Lmao, I dug a pond. By pick and shovel and clay lined by boots and gloves.

No wonder murderers opt for "shallow graves" even though it means they will be more easily caught. Can you imagine burying a whole ship like some early Europeans did when burying their kings?

Poor Chris has to do manual labor 😂