This is an original tradition Igorot funeral customs.1930s The man in this photo is deceased and bound in a sitting position

This is an original tradition Igorot funeral customs.1930s The man in this photo is deceased and bound in a sitting position. 

This is an original tradition Igorot funeral customs.1930s The man in this photo is deceased and bound in a sitting position. 

A person is placed in this position and salted and dried for 3 days. The reason they are seated is because once dry, the person can be removed from the chair and turned,sideways into the fetal position. The Igorot/Ifugao tribe believes that a fetus in the womb is in the fetal position and by placing them in the fetal position after death, they will return to "mother nature/mother earth".