A Short History of the Coffin

The coffin is one of the oldest objects connected with death. Its shape, materials, and meaning have changed many times. This article follows the main turning points. For the history of the words “coffin” and “casket,” see Coffin, Casket, Undertaker, Mortician.

What are the earliest coffins?

Britannica notes that primitive wooden coffins, made from a tree trunk split down the middle and hollowed out, are still used among some peoples. Wikipedia reports that the earliest evidence of wooden coffin remains, dated to about 5000 BC, was found in Tomb 4 at Beishouling in Shaanxi, China, and that triple coffins, with two outer coffins and an inner one, appear at Longshan culture sites from about 3000 to 2000 BC.

What about ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome?

Egypt developed elaborate coffins. Wikipedia explains that ancient Egyptian coffins came in two basic forms, rectangular and human-shaped, usually made of wood, though stone and a layered linen material called cartonnage were sometimes used for the human-shaped ones. Not everyone had a coffin, and some people were buried in shrouds, palm-rib wrapping, or nothing. Britannica adds that Egyptian stone coffins, or sarcophagi, were the largest known and often covered with hieroglyphics. It says Greek coffins were urn-shaped, hexagonal, or triangular, with the body in a sitting position. See The Egyptian Book of the Dead.

What happened in medieval Europe?

Coffins were for those who could pay. Britannica says people who could not afford stone used planed wooden coffins, while the poor were buried without a coffin, wrapped in cloth or covered with hay and flowers. Britannica notes that lead coffins were also used in Europe in the Middle Ages, and Golden Charter says lead and stone were reserved for the very wealthy or important. Britannica also notes that iron coffins were used in England and Scotland as late as the 17th century, when coffins became usual for all classes. The Golden Charter article notes that most wooden medieval coffins have disintegrated, so we cannot know how common they were. The Coffin Works museum describes a shared “parish coffin,” which was given up around the turn of the 17th century in favor of coffins for individual burials. Hollywood Forever adds that it was used to carry the dead to the cemetery and then returned to the church. As coffins became common, more attention went to what the dead were wrapped in. An English law, the Burying in Woollen Acts of 1666 to 1680, required burial in wool, in part to support the wool trade, according to Wikipedia. The Coffin Works adds that plague victims and the destitute were exempt.

What was a Victorian coffin like?

Decorated and costly. Golden Charter and the Coffin Works museum in Birmingham, a former coffin-furniture factory, describe the Victorian era as one of big funerals, with spending on brass handles, breastplates, shrouds, and grave ornaments. Wikipedia notes that the handles and other fittings on a coffin are called “coffin furniture.” A museum collection page describes engraved plates with sentimental inscriptions such as “Our Darling,” often used for a child. It also notes that before the 20th century, coffins typically had six to eight sides or a human-like shape, while a casket has four.

How did coffin-making become a business?

By splitting off from other trades. The same museum collection page says that eventually one person took on all the details of a funeral, the “undertaker,” and that coffin construction became its own enterprise. See How the Undertaker Became the Funeral Director.

What changed in 19th-century America?

Metal and mass production. The museum collection page says the first U.S. patent for a metal coffin was granted in 1836, and that twelve years later A. D. Fisk filed a patent for an “air-tight coffin of cast or raised metal,” shaped like a mummy. Hollywood Forever’s article says Almond Dunbar Fisk, a stove designer, created it after the death of his brother William, and that it could preserve a body in hot weather and during long transport. The same article says the Civil War marks the start of mass-produced wooden coffins, since thousands of fallen soldiers needed burial. Golden Charter adds that Civil War coffins were often made from old wooden furniture as needed. The museum page says Fisk’s design later morphed into the rectangular shape known as a “casket.”

What about safety coffins?

A short-lived 19th-century invention, born of the fear of being buried alive. Hollywood Forever mentions an 1868 patent for an “improved burial case” made for that reason. See The Fear of Premature Burial and the Safety Coffin.

What is happening to coffins today?

Choices have widened. Hollywood Forever notes a renewed interest in plain wooden coffins, which many see as the most environmentally friendly choice. For modern options, see Caskets: Types, Costs, and What to Know, Green and Natural Burial, and Ghana’s Fantasy Coffins.

Where can I learn more?

See Do I Actually Need a Casket? and Coffin, Casket, Undertaker, Mortician.