Mirila were created between the 17th and 20th centuries, when the inhabitants (pastoral nomads) of the Velebit Mountains lived mainly from livestock farming and kept mostly sheep. The deceased had to be carried from the often very remote hamlets and farms along mountain paths to the village church and then to the village cemetery. It was customary that the bearers were only allowed to rest once along the way and set the dead down on the ground. At such specific places, "the deceased said goodbye to the sun for the last time." Thus, family rest stones were created, which preserved the memory of the deceased and were more important than the grave itself, because it was believed that the grave contained "merely" a body without a soul, which remained on the mirilo.[7] The bodies were wrapped in an ordinary linen cloth and transported on a wooden stretcher. The mirilo, i.e. The place of burial, the burial site, was marked with stones as follows: "Flat stones were placed beneath the corpse, exactly corresponding to its length and width. A stone was placed at the foot, which was naturally rounded or later shaped accordingly, and a similarly shaped but somewhat larger so-called headstone was placed at the head."[8] The ritual of building the Mirilo took place at sunrise, and the corpse lay with its head facing east, toward the sun.[9] The laying out in the open air could last up to three days.
Source: Wikipedia