In his letter "The signs of the age” (Readers’ Forum, Parsiana, October 7-20, 2019), Yazdi Kohiar has stated that with the disappearance of vultures the system of dakhmenashini is no longer effective.
I would term the system as Khurshed nagirashni (exposure to the sun) instead, which is the best mode of disposal of the dead. Since times immemorial Irani/Parsi Zarathushtis have laid their dead on elevated places (preferably hilltops) exposed to solar rays alone. Scavenger birds or animals would eat the corpses and the bones were placed in an aastodaan or ossuary (a receptacle for dry bones). In later years, an......