Like the Wari, the Berawan people do not bury their dead, and the central theme of their funerary culture is metamorphosis. The average funeral process can last from days to months, and is made up of four distinct stages. According to Metcalf, death rituals begin the moment after death when the corpse is placed in either a wooden coffin, or an earthenware jar. From here, it is put into storage on a platform, in either the graveyard that will serve as a final resting place, or in a longhouse where the grieving family lives. Afterwards, the now dry bones of the decayed corpse are ritualistically cleaned by close kin, and the body is then laid to rest in a form of “second burial” within a valuable jar, or coffin, inside of the family mausoleum.
