ABSTRACT
Bodies are usually thrown into the sea in Aneityum, but the highest chiefs are interred with the head above the ground for the purpose of taking the skull and placing it in a sacred grove.2 It is the custom in San Cristoval to oast the bodies of common people into the sea, while chiefs are buried and some possession of the deceased such as a tooth or a skull is preserved in a shrine in the village. S The bodies of important persons are placed on wooden platforms surrounded by palisades and are so kept until only the bones remain. 4
Burial is usual in Ysabel, but the body of a ohief is interred with the head near the surface and a fire is kept burning under it with the object that soon the skull might be removed and placed in the house. 5
We also find different methods of disposal of the body in Shortland Islands. While the bodies of ordinary people are interred or thrown into the sea, the chiefs and the wives of chiefs are burnt.6
