About house-shaped Haniwa, there are two theories; one theory that they were Yorishiro (object representative of a divine spirit) where the souls of the deceased lived and the other theory that they were representations of the residences the deceased lived before death.
家形埴輪については、死者の霊が生活するための依代（よりしろ）という説と死者が生前に居住していた居館を表したものという説がある。