Geriten
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thumb|right|A geriten. Geriten, or "head-house", is the skull-house of the Karo people of North Sumatra, Indonesia. It is a pavilion-like structure with a distinctively shaped roof that acted as an ossuary where the skulls of chiefs and important individuals were preserved after their deaths.
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thumb|right|A geriten. Geriten, or "head-house", is the skull-house of the Karo people of North Sumatra, Indonesia. It is a pavilion-like structure with a distinctively shaped roof that acted as an ossuary where the skulls of chiefs and important individuals were preserved after their deaths.
==Structure and function== thumb|left|The most common type of geriten has a seating platform below its roof. Geriten is a Batak Karo term for ossuaries. A geriten took many forms, but most commonly it is shaped as a miniature version of the Batak Karo house. A geriten may be small-sized or shaped like a pavilion where people may take a rest or do mundane activities below the roof. A geriten may also be designed on top of a Karo house as a sort of roof finial.