More options than you might think.

There is no one view of tradition in the United States. The US is like a creole dish (or ratatouille if vegetarian): there is a little of everything.  (no we are not reviewing cannibalism here).  

Religion plays a big part in funeral traditions. Several including Judaism and Islam do not allow cremation. Catholicism made it permissible in 2016 for everyone and for a few special cases prior to then. Even now the body must be kept intact and buried in consecrated ground – not kept on a mantle. 

Cremation has had a roller coaster history going from required to forbidden to permissible to popular. This has depended considerably not only on the prevailing religion but also on who was in power and the current diseases.