Very soon after death comes preparations are made for the burial. The body is bathed and the hair is washed. The arms are folded across the chest and tied together to hold them in position. The legs are folded up against the body. Around the tightly-flexed body is wrapped a cotton blanket, then a large feather blanket. Finally the bundle is wrapped in a piece of matting and is ready for burial. There is no cemetery and the burial may be made anywhere. When the weather is good the bodies may be buried out on the mesa top or anywhere in the canyon. Sometimes they are placed in crevices in the cliffs or in holes under large boulders. During the winter, when the ground is frozen and covered with snow, graves are often dug in the great trash pile in front of the cave. For generations the people have dumped their ashes and refuse there and it is not difficult to dig a grave in the soft, ashy material. Occasionally death comes when a severe storm is raging outside the cave. Rather than face the storm the men of a burial party sometimes seal a body in an empty house or bury it in the trash room in the rear of the cave. The cave roof is too low for houses in that space so the long, low room is used as a trash room and turkey roost. When a body is buried there it is surrounded by perfectly dry materials such as ashes, dust, corn cobs, corn tassels and turkey droppings. The chill of winter prevents decay and the body begins to dry out. Soon all moisture is gone and only the bones and dried tissues remain. If no moisture reaches it, the dry, mummy-like body will remain unchanged for centuries. After the grave is dug the tightly-wrapped body is placed in it. Food and water are placed in the grave, along with the personal possessions of the deceased; weapons, tools, jewelry and other articles which the spirit of the dead person will need in the afterworld. After the grave is filled with earth and rocks the members of the burial party return to their homes and purify themselves by washing their hair, vomiting and fumigating their clothing in smoke. The spirit of the deceased does not leave the body for four days so each morning relatives place food and water on the grave. At sunrise on the fourth morning the spirit leaves the body and journeys back through Sipapu, into the Mother Earth, where the dead live in another world much like this one. As soon as the spirit is gone the relatives purify themselves and from this time on try not to speak of, or think of the dead person again. Grieving may cause sickness so the dead are best forgotten.