How Did 6 Feet Become the Standard Grave Depth? It all started
with the plague: The origins of “six feet under” come from a
1665 outbreak in England. As the disease swept the country, the
mayor of London literally laid down the law about how to deal
with the bodies to avoid further infections. Among his
specifications—made in “Orders Conceived and Published by the
Lord Major and Aldermen of the City of London, Concerning the
Infection of the Plague”—was that “all the graves shall be at
least six feet deep.” The law eventually fell out of favor both
in England and its colonies. Modern American burial laws vary
from state to state, though many states simply require a minimum
of 18 inches of soil on top of the casket or burial vault (or
two feet of soil if the body is not enclosed in anything). Given
an 18-inch dirt buffer and the height of the average casket
(which, based on the ones I just looked at, appears to be
approximately 30 inches), a grave as shallow as four feet would
be fine. A typical modern burial