Bier

A bier is a flat frame, traditionally wooden but sometimes made of other materials, used to carry a corpse for burial in a funeral procession.  In antiquity it was often simply a wooden board on which the dead was placed covered with a shroud (cloth used for burial).  In modern times, however, the corpse is almost never carried on the bier without being first placed in a coffin, though the coffin is sometimes kept open.  

Related pages
Catafalque

Category:Death customs
Category:Tools