Ossuary

[skinem]

os·su·ary

Pronunciation: 'ä-sh&-"wer-E, -sy&-, -s&-
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -ar·ies
Etymology: Late Latin ossuarium, from Latin, neuter of ossuarius of bones, from Old Latin ossua, plural of oss-, os
: a depository for the bones of the dead

Grave, crypt, pyramid, 6 feet under, pine box, Viking ship, tree, all fit the above.
I'm assuming this meaning applies to more formal, uh, "grand" depositories?

[Stargzer]

A place for skeletal remains only, not the rest of the body parts.


From the Wikipedial article on Hallstatt:

There is so little place for cemeteries that every ten years bones are exhumed and removed into an ossuary, to make room for new burials. A collection of elaborately decorated medieval skulls with the owners' names, professions, death dates inscribed on them is on display at the local chapel.

From the Cemetery article:

In some cases, skeletons were exhumed from graveyards and moved into ossuaries or catacombs. A large action of this type occured in 18th century Paris when human remains were transfered from graveyards all over the city to the Catacombs of Paris.

See also: Charnel House, charnel, and charnel house.

[gailr]

Not to creep you out, skinem, but I've created both an ossuary and a reliquary. Both were quite fetching, IMO.

-gailr
you probably couldn't have fetched more than a pigeon skeleton from either, though, iffen it makes you feel better.