In my society, honour is all important. A condemned criminal can recover his or her family's honour by burying themselves alive as a form of suicide.
My question is: How deep can an ordinary human be expected to be able to commit suicide by burying themselves in an easy-to-dig loamy soil? Ideally they should be able to end up six feet under with the level of the soil above them flat or slightly raised. No part of them should be visible.
A diagram or series of diagrams showing the process would be appreciated.
Notes
They use a flat level plot of easily dug soil. For the purposes of this question, the area of the plot can be considered to be 'sufficiently large'.
They are allowed to prepare by removing an amount of soil equal to their own body volume plus a little more to allow for the soil settling. After a week the relatives can return regularly to shovel some of this back to keep things level.
The only tool or equipment allowed is an ordinary gravedigger's shovel.
The condemned person must wear only normal light clothing at all times and work alone.
No breathing apparatus is allowed at any stage.
To regain the maximum amount of honour, the soil must completely cover the 'body' and the soil left around the edges must be (a) minimal, (b) level with the surrounding soil or nearly so, and (c) as tidy as possible.
The time limit is 1 month from the start of the sentence. If they haven't started or completed their task in time then they are buried by someone else and their family loses their honour.