Being buried alive is a persistent fear that many people have had throughout history. The thought of being trapped in a coffin under the ground, running out of air and slowly suffocating to death, is utterly terrifying. But has this nightmarish scenario actually happened to people, or is it just the stuff of horror stories and vivid imaginations?
What is premature burial?
Premature burial, also known as live burial, refers to someone being buried while still alive and subsequently dying from lack of oxygen underground. It was a not-uncommon fear in previous centuries when medical science was still primitive by today’s standards. Determining actual death was difficult, and heartbeats could be faint and breathing shallow in states resembling death. People have devised various preventive measures over time to avoid being buried alive prematurely.
How did people try to avoid premature burial?
Many schemes were invented to allow a person accidentally buried alive to summon help. Some coffins contained breathing pipes and bells that the person could ring if they woke up underground. “Safety coffins” were devised with mechanisms that allowed the person to open the coffin from the inside or raise a flag above ground signaling for help.
Another precaution was to wait several days before burial in case the person “came back to life.” Mourners would sometimes try to elicit movement by shouting, firing guns, tickling or slapping the body to check for any response.
Were there any cases of premature burial?
There are many stories and reports of premature burials accidentally taking place. These include:
- In the 1890s, a woman named Essie Dunbar was thought dead of a seizure and buried in South Carolina. Witnesses claimed that when the coffin was exhumed later, the bones of her hands were found scratched and bloody from trying to claw her way out.
- Marjorie Elphinstone died of a heart attack in Ardtannies, Scotland in 1674. When the vault was reopened years later, her skeleton was found turned over inside the coffin.
- In 1850, a tomb was opened 60 years after burial in Barberville, FL and the skeleton of Dr. John Rae was found turned over with some bones protruding through the casket lid.
- In 2014, Elena de Hoyos’ body was exhumed in San Antonio, TX and scratch marks were found inside the coffin from an attempted premature escape.
While some of these accounts may be exaggerated or fabricated, the sheer number suggests at least some were based on real events. With our limited medical abilities to determine death in the past, it’s highly plausible that live burial did occasionally happen, though the frequency is uncertain.
What are the signs that someone may have been buried alive?
If an exhumation finds indications of movement or attempts to escape, it suggests premature burial. These signs include:
- The skeleton is found turned over or twisted unnaturally inside the casket.
- Bones are protruding through the coffin lid or sides from attempts to claw, push or sit up.
- The coffin lid or sides have scratch marks from fingernails.
- Hand bones, fingers, toes or feet are damaged or bloodied from desperate self-inflicted clawing or pushing against the coffin walls.
- Pieces of hair, cloth or coffin debris are found clenched tightly in the skeleton’s hands or mouth from agonized reactions.
- The shroud or burial garments are torn and disheveled from frantic movements.
Any signs of bones being dislodged, clawing at coffin lids, or__==”self-inflicted” injuries point to a person regaining consciousness after burial and fruitlessly trying to escape.
What causes premature burial?
There are a few circumstances that can lead to someone mistakenly being declared dead and buried alive:
Difficulty determining actual death
Before modern medical tools, accurately determining if someone was really dead was challenging:
- A very faint heartbeat and shallow breathing can mimic death.
- Injuries like hypothermia or drug overdose can induce a death-like coma state.
- Paralysis from neurotoxins in animals like cone snails or cobras can induce an immobilized state that appears dead.
Such conditions may cause a doctor to mistakenly pronounce someone dead when they are still alive.
Rushing burial
Especially during epidemics and pandemics, quickly burying the dead in mass graves could result in some being buried prematurely before death is certain. Outbreaks of cholera, smallpox and plague all increased the chances of making such errors.
Limited medical knowledge
Basic anatomy and the precise causes and timing of death were poorly understood. Rigor mortis, algor mortis (body cooling), livor mortis (blood pooling) and decomposition changes were not well documented medically to aid determination of death. Optical devices to check for breathing fogging or heartbeats did not yet exist.
How did the fear of premature burial develop?
The idea of premature burial has been around for centuries, but really took hold in Western European countries in the 18th and 19th centuries. Some factors that heightened fears:
Rise of the medical profession
Doctors increasingly took over the role of determining death rather than families. But medical knowledge was limited and there was a mistrust of physicians’ competence. Unscrupulous doctors could also be bribed for coveted inheritances.
High mortality rates
Wars, plagues and high mortality from other diseases resulted in quick burials that could overlook signs of life. Cholera outbreaks accelerated corpses being put into mass graves hastily.
Popularity of Gothic horror fiction
Stories of the dead coming back to life and live burials became popular. Edgar Allan Poe’s stories like “The Premature Burial” terrified readers. Newspapers sensationalized rare but true accounts of people buried alive.
Advancements in life resuscitation
Early experiments with electricity and Galvanism seemed to resuscitate the dead. This made the idea of being buried somewhat alive seem more plausible. Attempts at reviving drowned persons also occasionally succeeded.
Widespread press coverage
The new “penny dreadful” fiction stories and cheap newspapers gave extensive coverage to premature burial deaths. They spread both true and exaggerated accounts.
Famous cases of premature burial
There are a number of vivid stories surrounding notable people reportedly buried alive:
Anne Greene
In 1650 England, Anne Greene was hanged for infanticide but revived in her coffin. The noose had improperly snapped her neck. She went on to remarry and have children before dying many years later.
Madame Bobin
A 1799 French case where Madame Bobin’s coffin was opened to find her body turned over. Vivid media coverage made her a famous example of live burial.
Alice Blunden
In 1877 England, Blunden was thought dead of a fever and buried in a shallow grave. A doctor later examined the body and found she had turned over in her coffin after burial.
Essie Dunbar
This late 19th century case in South Carolina alleged that a woman buried for epileptic fits was found with horrific damage to her palms and fingers from trying to claw her way out.
Octavia Hatcher
A sensationalist 1871 American legend of a woman buried alive due to a coma induced by a spider bite. Her moving coffin was supposedly found exhumed when her husband ordered her reburial in a deeper plot.
Why did live burials decrease?
Fear of premature burial peaked in the late 1800s but steadily declined as:
- Medical science advanced
- Causes of death became better understood
- Declaring death became regulated
- “Safety coffin” designs were introduced
- Embalming became popular
Improved medical capabilities, communication, and procedures for determining death made accidental live burials progressively rarer. Public alarm gradually faded over time.
Medical capabilities expanded
Stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs and other new devices helped physicians more accurately determine death. The stethoscope’s invention alone helped prevent many mistaken diagnoses.
Knowledge improved
Understanding of body chemistry processes like rigor mortis gave doctors better ways to confirm death’s occurrence and estimate time since death.
Legal reforms
Requirements for exam by multiple physicians or long wait periods between death and burial were instituted. This prevented rushed diagnoses and burials solely by one corrupt doctor.
Safety coffin inventions
Designs with escape hatches, air pipes, ropes to ring bells or raise flags allowed “dead” people to call for help if buried alive.
Widespread embalming
Chemical preservation and arterial injection helped ensure the dead could not spontaneously revive. The use of embalming fluid skyrocketed in the early 1900s.
Is premature burial still possible today?
Advancements in modern medicine make accidental live burials highly unlikely, but some argue they cannot be ruled out entirely.
Rigorous diagnostic procedures
Steps to confirm death medically are far more sophisticated now. They involve examination for cessation of vital functions like pulse, breathing and pupil response. Lowered body temperature and biochemical tests are also used.
Rare instances
A very small fraction of cases suggest people with certain medical conditions could still potentially be mistaken for dead. These include:
- Severe hypothermia lowering body temperature and mimicking death.
- Barbiturate overdoses depressing respiration and brain activity.
- Catalepsy causing muscle rigidity that prevents motion.
- Locked-in syndrome paralysis removing all ability to move or communicate.
However, required observation periods make misdiagnoses rare. Study of exhumed remains also shows no modern cases of attempted escape.
Lack of oxygen underground
Even if buried alive, a revived person would likely die quickly before anyone noticed. With no air in the casket or coffin, loss of consciousness would occur within minutes. Survival long enough to be rescued is highly unlikely.
Conclusion
While premature burial was a pervasive dread in the past, improvements in medical science have made it largely obsolete today. The extensive procedures required for declaring death, long waiting periods and modern communication capabilities means any actual cases now would almost certainly be caught and rectified before burial. Though not impossible statistically, the chances of being buried alive in modern times are astronomically slim. Improved technology and medical knowledge have helped lay historic fears largely to rest.