Burial service Once at the burial site, pallbearers will carry the coffin to the grave, place it on wooden struts and position lowering straps through the handles of the coffin. When given the command, the coffin is lifted by the straps, allowing the wooden struts to be removed, and then lowered into the grave.
Video shows how one pallbearer helping to lower the coffin slipped and fell on top of it, causing the lid to split in half and an elderly woman's body to roll out. The tragic accident happened during a funeral in...
When it is time to lower, you and the other bearers will take hold of the ends of the webbing and the putlogs will be removed by cemetery staff, so that the coffin is supported by the webbing. Gently lower the coffin, by releasing the webbing, hand over hand.
Etiquette and attire
Most of the time, the pallbearer holds the casket with one hand, and the other hands are tucked behind the back. In some services, pallbearers may have designated seats, so you will have to assist the ceremony with the other pallbearers.
1. To Preserve Dignity. The main reason for covering the lower half of the body is to preserve the dignity of the deceased. In most cases, funeral directors will bend the legs slightly to help fit the body into the casket, which can lead to a slightly crumpled or unnatural appearance.
Even if you're not holding a graveside service, the funerary staff will still use a casket-lowering device to place the casket underground. But it might not look as decorative or ceremonial as it would if the family was in attendance.
It is always easier to light up the upper half of the body and present the face under the best light. By covering the legs, funeral directors save time by spending lesser time lighting the lower portion of the body.
Carrying a coffin with the feet first helps keep it balanced and also means the deceased is being handled with great care. The funeral director will provide instructions on how to take the coffin.
If you're overcome with emotion and crying, you will find it's more challenging to carry out your tasks. Take a few deep breaths and try to keep yourself calm. Crying is ok, but at the same time, the work of a pallbearer is important and will require focus.
The number depends on the handles on the casket as well as those who wish to carry the casket. As such, this number and even are more than eight people. However, six pallbearers are picked to carry the casket during a funeral service often because most caskets have three handles on each side.
Researchers studying the process of decomposition in a body after death from natural causes found that, without any external “assistance,” human remains can change their position. This discovery has important implications for forensic science.
Burial service
Once at the burial site, pallbearers will carry the coffin to the grave, place it on wooden struts and position lowering straps through the handles of the coffin. When given the command, the coffin is lifted by the straps, allowing the wooden struts to be removed, and then lowered into the grave.
A coffin is constructed with SIX sides, a top and a bottom, while a casket is constructed of FOUR sides, a top and a bottom.
Usually the head end of the coffin is the heaviest, thus the strongest two of your six pallbearers should take the handles at this end.
There are actually no rules about who can carry a coffin at a funeral. Anyone can be a pallbearer as long as they feel able to do it. Plus, you can always ask the funeral director what will work best.
Pallbearers will have to carry the casket with the body inside, so they will have to transport the body's weight and the coffin. 370 to 400 pounds is the final weight that pallbearers will carry if the casket is standard sized, 200 pounds heavy, whereas the adult body is 200 pounds (male) or 170 pounds (female).
Pallbearers are usually close family members and friends. Siblings, adult children, grown grandchildren, nieces and nephews, close friends, and colleagues are all common choices for pallbearers. However, anyone can serve as a pallbearer.
It's best, however, to avoid selecting people who will need to be there to support another family member. For example, a grown son may need to sit with (and offer moral support to) his mother rather than serve as a pallbearer at his father's funeral.
A pallbearer is one of several participants who help carry the casket at a funeral. They may wear white gloves in order to prevent damaging the casket and to show respect to the deceased person.
By 50 years in, your tissues will have liquefied and disappeared, leaving behind mummified skin and tendons. Eventually these too will disintegrate, and after 80 years in that coffin, your bones will crack as the soft collagen inside them deteriorates, leaving nothing but the brittle mineral frame behind.
Burials may be placed in a number of different positions. Bodies with the arms crossed date back to ancient cultures such as Chaldea in the 10th century BC, where the "X" symbolized their sky god.
In a temperate climate, it usually requires three weeks to several years for a body to completely decompose into a skeleton, depending on factors such as temperature, humidity, presence of insects, and submergence in a substrate such as water.
If you have an adult with you at the funeral home, it is ok to touch a dead body, and you will not get in trouble. You are naturally curious, and sometimes when you see and touch a dead body it helps you answer your questions. Remember to be gentle and have an adult help you.
The answer is no; all of the organs remain in the body during the embalming process. Instead, the Embalmer makes small incisions in the abdomen and inserts tubes into the body cavity. These tubes pump a mixture of chemicals and water into the body, which helps to preserve the tissues and prevent decomposition.
We don't remove them. You can use what is called an eye cap to put over the flattened eyeball to recreate the natural curvature of the eye. You can also inject tissue builder directly into the eyeball and fill it up. And sometimes, the embalming fluid will fill the eye to normal size.