Trace the evolution of how humanity has treated bodies and burials throughout history, and grapple with the question: will we ever run out of burial space?

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Since the dawn of humanity, an estimated 100.8 billion people have lived and died, a number that increases by about 0.8% of the world’s population each year. What happens to all of those peoples’ bodies after they die? And will the planet eventually run out of burial space? Farnaz Khatibi Jafari traces the evolution of how humanity has treated bodies and burials.

Lesson by Farnaz Khatibi Jafari, animation by Ivana Bošnjak and Thomas Johnson.

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