A coffin is a funerary box used for viewing or keeping a corpse, either for burial or cremation.
A shop window display of coffins at a Polish funeral director's office
A casket showroom in Billings, Montana, depicting split lid coffins.
Ancient Egyptian coffin, 1802–1640 BC
Coffin of prince Liu Wu, covered with jade panels. China, 154 BC
Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objects in it, and covering it over. A funeral is a ceremony that accompanies the final disposition. Evidence suggests that some archaic and early modern humans buried their dead. Burial is often seen as indicating respect for the dead. It has been used to prevent the odor of decay, to give family members closure and prevent them from witnessing the decomposition of their loved ones, and in many cultures it has been seen as a necessary step for the deceased to enter the afterlife or to give back to the cycle of life.
Unearthed grave from the medieval Poulton Chapel
Reconstruction of the Mesolithic tomb of two women from Téviec, Brittany
A naturally mummified body in the British Museum
A Muslim cemetery in Sahara, with all graves placed at right angles to distant Mecca