be stored or buried, as practiced by some groups of Native Americans in protohistoric times. Sky burials were practiced by the ancient Persians, Tibetans and some Native Americans in protohistoric times. Specifically, the conditions of a shallow active layer as well as the lack of firewood led the Tibetans to practice jhator or "giving alms to the birds". The zoroastrians in Mumbai and Karachi placed bodies on "Towers of Silence", where birds then could decompose the bodies. Sky burials can provide benefits to the environment, since it does not produce air pollution and the decomposition of the body occurs fairly quickly, when compared to other forms of disposal practices. Exposures, which can be a form of sky burial, are where the corpse is stripped of its flesh, leaving only the bones. The bones can then either be cremated or buried whole, as stated above. Burial at sea "Burial at sea" in past generations has meant the deliberate disposal of a corpse into the ocean, wrapped and tied with weights to make sure it sinks. It has been a common practice in navies and seafaring nations; in the Church of England, special forms of funeral service were added to the Book of Common Prayer to cover it. In today's parlance, "burial at sea" may also refer to the scattering of ashes in the ocean, while "whole body burial at sea" refers to the entire uncremated body being placed in the ocean at great depths. Laws vary by jurisdictions. The concept may also include ship burial, a form of burial at sea in which the corpse is set adrift on a boat. Composting The process of composting human corpses, also called natural organic reduction (NOR) or terramation, turns organic matter into soil conditioner that is unrecognizable as human remains. It is performed by placing the body in a mix of wood chips, allowing thermophile microbes to decompose the body. In the United States, human composting has been legalized in six states: Washington, Colorado, Vermont (from 1 January 2023), Oregon, California (in 2027), and New York. The first such composting facility, based Kent, Washington, accepted bodies in December 2020. It developed from an earlier composting idea, formulated by architect Katrina Spade of Seattle, Washington, as the Urban Death Project. The Catholic Church opposes this procedure and laws that legalize it. Dissolution Dissolution involves the breaking down of the body by solvation, e.g. in