Book Description: "A funeral is a ceremony marking a person's death. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from the funeral itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor. These customs vary widely between cultures, and between religious affiliations within cultures. In some cultures the dead are venerated; this is commonly called ancestor worship. The word funeral comes from the Latin funus, which had a variety of meanings, including the corpse and the funerary rites themselves. Table of Contents: Publisher's Preface; Forword; Acknowledgment; The Provisions Of Nature; Death Warnings--when Does Death Take Place?; Preparation For Burial, Coffins, ''grave-goods, '' Suttee; Wakes, Mutes, Wailers, Sin-eating, Totemism, Death-taxes; Bells, Mourning; Funeral Feasts And Processions; Early Burial-places; Churchyards, Cemeteries, Orientation And Other Burial Customs; Trees, Flowers, Body-snatching; Plague; State And Public Funerals; Cremation, Embalming; In Memoriam; Memorials, Epitaphs, Rings And Mourning Cards