Gravediggers have been demonstrating their skills in a national competition aimed at improving the profession's morbid image and attracting new people to the trade.
Those taking part in the event in a public cemetery were judged on speed but also style in how the completed grave mounds looked.
Undertakers used shovels, rakes, axes and pickaxes in the race to dig graves 80cm (2ft 7in) wide, 2m (6ft 6in) long and 1.6m (5ft 3in) deep.
In all, 18 two-man teams were pitted against each other in the eastern Hungarian city of Debrecen.
Some dug simultaneously, while others had one man digging while the other put the dirt into neat piles around the gravesite.
For safety reasons only one member of each team was allowed to work in the grave after the reached 1m (3ft 3in) down.
The event was a qualifying competition for a championship to be held in Slovakia this November.
The profession is under threat from the increasing popularity of cremations.
Zoltan Juracsik, deputy chairman of the Hungarian undertakers' association, denied gravedigging was morbid.
He said: "A horror exhibit with the hangman, that's morbid. This is a profession, and the colleagues who toil in contest today are proud and deserve our respect.
"That's what this contest is for, as well as qualifying for the finals."
His home team from Debrecen, which normally digs as many as 10 graves a day in sandy soil, finished well ahead of their rivals as they enjoyed the advantages of home turf.
Competition organiser Iren Kari said: "These men see death every day. Sometimes people joke about them while they work, but gravediggers are human, too.
"We are having difficulties finding replacements for our retiring employees. Young people today don't like to dig and work."
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