Tomb
A tomb is a place of interment, a funeral burial, and basically a quiet place to put the dead. There are several kinds, actually, many of which are discussed here, or in their own respective articles.
Burial vaults – They are either made of stone, or brick, and are usually underground places of interment, instead of burial. More often than not, they are owned privately by families, who would like to keep the family together even after death. They are usually located in a cemetery, or near a church.
Monuments - Unlike vaults, monuments are inside the church, or in what look like large chests in the churchyard, and are sometimes places where the body is kept, –however, this is rare. Usually, the large chest like tombs merely stand over the actual grave, and do not actually contain the body, –technically making them not actually type of tomb.
Crypts – These are more similar to vaults, except they are much larger, and are often, but not always, open to the general public as an alternative to burial.
Martyrium – This is the technical name for the resting place of a martyr of saint, –an example would be the martyrium of San Pietro, in Montorio.
Mausolea – Mausolea, –the plural word for “mausoleum” actually, pretty much the same as a burial vault, except the mausoleum can and often is used for just one individual, instead of a family. They’re actually monuments as well, and are external to the church.
Megalithic tombs – These tombs are often morbid sites for prehistoric communities, where often the bodies of several individuals can be found, interred sometimes separately, and sometimes in groups, suggesting family buried together, because they died at the same time, or individuals added to the group as they died over a period of time. Usually they were constructed out of stones, and were marked by a large mound, resembling a small hill.
