Changes

Cremation was at times practiced in Europe, but usually it was done as a form of punishment. For instance, during the Protestant Reformation period in the 16th century and later, Protestants were sometimes burned or their bodies were ritually burned as a way to prevent them from entering the afterlife. This, in a way, was similar to being burned at the stake, where this punishment was intended to prevent an afterlife as well as act as punishment.<ref>For more on some acts of cremation in Christianity, see: Eric Venbrux, Thomas Quartier, Claudia Venhorst, Brenda Mathijssen, et al. (eds.) (2013) <i>Changing European death ways.</i> Death studies volume 1. Zürich, Lit, pg. 122.</ref>

On the other hand, cremation spread in East Asia as Buddhism influenced Han Chinese and Japan. Thus, while cremation began to disappear from Europe and the Middle East, it now spread in East Asia to areas where it was previously prohibited, such as in China (Figure 2).<ref>For more on the spread of cremation in East Asia, see: Michael Dickhardt (ed.) (2016) <i>Religion, place, and modernity: spatial articulations in Southeast Asia and East Asia.</i> Social sciences in Asia VOLUME 40. Leiden, Brill.</ref>