There were some pretty elaborate setups then but another angle is the living was not exactly sure or convinced if a person were really dead or not. Often during those days when a person was put into the ground a device was attached above so that if a person woke up buried alive they could summon help from above to dig them out. This didn't last too long because of science and it's advancements none the less it went on and was the rage of the age for awhile. Many of these designs included bells that the recently departed could ring from below, flare guns or mini cannons that they could fire off to alert the living of their plight. Other's included a reverse type periscope that one could check and see that the deceased was really in fact deceased. I'm not exactly sure about the one pictured above but it could easily fit into that category.
