I suppose being a full time Funeral Director, I should add my two
cents worth in here (LF photography is my "hobby", i fyou can it that).
Cremation today as opposed to 1890's is very different. In 1890
most cremaions would have been coal or oil fired, and as such, there would
be much soot/carbon from the process.
Cremation today is gas fired - natural, propane, etc. There are
maybe still a few older oil fired ones, but everything new is gas fired.
Actuall temperatures reach 2000F, using superheated fire
brick which line the inside of hte retort chamber. AT this heat all soft
organic material is totally consumed, and all remains is metal & the
mineral content of the body. All metal is reomoved via electromagnet
& sifting, and what remians is a few pounds of greyish, powdery, gravel,
depending on the sifting machines used. It is almost a white-grey colour,
and may or may not be suitable to carbon printing in that colour.
There are no civil laws that I know of reguarding doing this,
but you might run into religious & ethnic considerations. One thing I
have found is that an action accepted or even demanded
in one culture is deemed extremely offensive in another culture.
For example - cremation itself. In some cultures, cremation is required
by religious law, while in other religions is it strickly forbidden. I give
you this informaiton not as a judgement, but rather as a warning of
something I have to juggle with everyday.
Speaking of more "alt" processes, it strikes me that the
surface of some bronze & brass urns are flat & polished enough
for alternate print processes. I see people ahve names & dates
engraved on urns, why not a Daguerrotype or other on the front?
joe
http://www.multiboard.com/~joneil
B&W, Large Format Images From Southern Ontario