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Charnier

21:48 Sep 3, 2008

French to English translations [Non-PRO]
Genealogy

French term or phrase: Charnier

This comes from church records which show that somebody was "deposee au charnier" to be buried at some other location the following spring

Alf Brandl

Summary of answers provided
4 +1	temporary burial-place / mass grave	mediamatrix

Answers

42 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

temporary burial-place / mass grave

Explanation:
'charnier' or 'fosse commune' usually refers to the burial of several bodies in a single pit. Often used in times of strife (war. genocide, etc.). In the case of the source text here, it seems to refer to a temporary burial-place - maybe shared, maybe not...

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Note added at 45 mins (2008-09-03 22:34:12 GMT)
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The web-refs here suggest that a charnier might also be a tomb, rather than a burial-place as such. Maybe even a room set aside for the temporary storage of bodies - rather like a mortuary.

Charnier (tombe) - Wikipédia - [ Translate this page ]Un charnier est une tombe contenant plus d'un corps humain. Les charniers sont en général créés lorsqu'un grand nombre de personnes meurent ou sont tuées, ...
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charnier_(tombe) - 23k - Cached - Similar pages
Charnier - Wikipédia - [ Translate this page ]Un charnier (voir aussi ossuaire) est une tombe collective de personnes ou ... Alain Charnier est un personnage de fiction des films French Connection et ...
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charnier - 16k - Cached - Similar pages

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