People generally understand what the term cremation means. When
we are asked for a detailed definition, however, we tend to
hesitate while searching for appropriate words. A suggested
definition of cremation is the: "The mechanical and/or thermal
or other dissolution process that reduces human remains to bone
fragments." Cremation includes the processing and usually
includes the pulverization of the bone fragments. This
definition covers a variety of technologies that may be applied
in order to achieve reduction to bone fragments, including
traditional flame-based cremation, calcination and alkaline
hydrolysis.