The Haniwa figure of men and animal-shaped Haniwa were displayed as a line or a group of statues, therefore there are theories such as that they represented funeral rites and that they recreated the political rituals before death.
人物埴輪や動物埴輪などは、行列や群像で並べられており、葬送儀礼を表現したとする説、生前の祭政の様子を再現したとする説などが唱えられている。