@Brigid I understand this problem only arose with Christianity and its demand for full body burial in the ground. Worse: in churchyards only. Before, there were all kinds of burial practises, including cremation, and possibly sky burial (= leaving the dead to carrion birds), or at least only one in ten of Neolithic peoples' remains could be found, and they lived in permanent villages already. Some cultures piled newer burials on top of older ones (though mostly only cremated remains).
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@Brigid I understand this problem only arose with Christianity and its demand for full body burial in the ground. Worse: in churchyards only. Before, there were all kinds of burial practises, including cremation, and possibly sky burial (= leaving the dead to carrion birds), or at least only one in ten of Neolithic peoples' remains could be found, and they lived in permanent villages already. Some cultures piled newer burials on top of older ones (though mostly only cremated remains).