Ossuary

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Ossuaries

The limestone James Ossuary from the 1st century

Human remains on the walls and ceiling of Skull Chapel, Poland

A chandelier made of bones in Sedlec Ossuary, Czech Republic

Ossuary at the Gallipoli battlefield; contains the remains of French soldiers

An ossuary is a chest, box, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the skeletal remains are removed and placed in an ossuary ("os" is "bone" in Latin^[1]). The greatly reduced space taken up by an ossuary means that it is possible to store the remains of many more people in a single tomb than possible in coffins. The practice is sometimes known as grave recycling.