Death in the Cathedral: mortuary practices in sport stadiums

Abstract

This article discusses an emerging mortuary practice: the establishment of columbaria in sport stadiums, and surreptitious ash dispersal on their playing fields. Focusing on a Spanish-Basque fan community, I explore ethnographically the beliefs, identifications, and experiences that allow fans to think their insertion, once dead, into a football stadium. Contrary to the view that considers the mobility of ash remains as a result of increasing individual choice, and decreasing concern with space and place, ash dispersal in stadiums shows that, while the act is an individual decision, there remains a great concern with place, and with the act's consequences for the community. Stadiums are becoming final resting places precisely because of their pivotal social, communal, and emotional relevance. In sum, the article argues that individualized approaches to death and dying take collective forms.