Within a very short time of death the body in the Arunta tribe is buried. It is placed in a sitting position with the knees doubled up against the chin, and is thus interred in a round hole in the ground, the earth being piled directly on to the body so as to make a low mound with a depression on one side. This is always made on the side which faces towards the direction of the dead man or woman's camping ground in the Alcheringa, that is the spot which he or she inhabited whilst in spirit form: the object of this is to allow of easy ingress and egress to the Ulthana or spirit which is supposed to spend part of the time until the final ceremony of mourning has been enacted in the grave, part watching over near relatives, and part in the company of its Arumburinga, that is its spiritual double who lives at the Nanja spot.

In the case of a man the hair is cut off from his head and his necklaces, armlets and fur string used for winding round his head are carefully preserved for further use. In the Eastern Arunta it is said that sometimes a little wooden vessel used in camp for holding small objects may be buried with the man, but this is the only instance which has come to our knowledge in which anything ordinarily used is buried in the grave.