Ashes to.. glasses?

  I am fully aware that there are many odd things you can do with human remains. History provides us with a wide array of exciting ways to get rid of a dead body: you can carve their arms into flutes, leave their body for the vultures, fashion their heads into stylish beer mugs, or build a hill over top of them. But why stop there?
Modern alternatives look down their nose at the tradition wooden box and offer you hip ways to make use of your ashy remains. Your ashes can start a coral reef, be painted into a work of art or, as I recently (as in 10 minutes ago) discovered the last of your physical remains can be blown into a glass orb!

Image from http://memoryglass.com

   It's called "Memory Glass" and actually I think it's quite charming. No really! Well ok it's kind of morbid having great aunt Hettie turned into a paperweight but it's an interesting alternative to the sinister little ash urn that sits on the mantle piece. They put the deceased's ashes into freshly blown glass then let it harden. They can even divide the ashes up into multiple orbs and/or small glass pendants so EVERYONE can have part of their dead relative!
   Yes it's a little weird and honestly I don't think I'm close enough to anyone to have their ashes hanging around my neck. It's just one of those things. This also probably not the alternative I would choose for myself. I just think about my little glass orb collecting dust and feel a bit sad.. However, for those people who like to keep their dead close and want to be a little Martha Stewart-ish about it there's no way you can go wrong!
  I'm really not sure what the archaeologist doing material analysis on a blown glass orb would think when they discover human ashes inside of it. On one had, I'd imagine they'd think it's an odd addition to the home decor but it's not exactly an action without precedent.
  Bodies have been known to be buried under the foundation of houses and the skulls of relatives in some cultures as sort of a protective totem so Memory Glass is just North America's home decorator approach of storing a dead body in the house.

Me and all of my worldy possessions

  If I were to suddenly drop dead right now (which hopefully doesn't happen, it would be really inconvenient), I would want to be buried with all of my books which means I will probably need a large-ish grave. Later archaeologists might misinterpret this and think that I'm some sort of scholarly type which, I suppose, is half true but mostly I just think it's apt that I be buried as I live: surrounded by giant heaps of paper.
   I would also want my pocket knife tossed in there with me because a lot of burials I've examined in other courses include items of everyday use and I figure I might as well give other anthropologists a leg up in their cultural examinations. I also would like to be dressed in my Doc Martins mostly because I'm just very attached to them but also possibly to give the impression that I am more than just a lowly paper hoarder. Or at least that I am a lowly paper hoarder with nice boots.
  As a finishing touch, my grave or cyst or mound should be lined with honey and crushed clam shells. Why? No reason other than I'm a little whimsical and I would love to see a future generation interpret that. Hah!

And today shall be my firstest post

Hi there
I am Joelle, a fourth year anthropology insomniac- i mean student. I guess they're kind of the same thing..
I like archaeology and physical anthropology and burials! So I guess the more relevant question would be: Why wouldn't I take this course?
I'm really interested in the dead and all the trappings that go with them probably in part due to watching waaay too many murder mysteries growing up. That and my parents believed that bringing your child to graveyards and introducing her to Aztec sacrifice rituals and Egyptian mummification methods at a young age were integral to her development. That's historians for you.
 I'm looking forward to getting a better grasp on the variety of burial practices that have been used in the past and just learning more about really ancient dead guys in general.