The ancient Sumarians buried their dead in woven baskets that the Greeks called kophinos, giving us the word coffin.
Because people feared that the departed soul was looking to possess a new body, or re-enter his own, the coffin bearers wore hoods and black clothes.
They then hid the coffin under a black cloth that the Romans called a pallium, which gave us the prefix “pall,” as in pallbearer.
Those who carry the coffin at a funeral are still called “pallbearers”.
