This is how Swordmaster explained the burial in Palestine in antiquity. The body was placed in a rectangular grave cut in stone. The herbs and flowers were place on top forming a nearly flat fragile surface, sufficient to support the cloth. The cloth was placed on top of the flowers and was more or less flat.
Should be Swordmaker. My apologies.
Wow! I wasn't aware of that. Thanks.
The image below depicts the burial process that I was familiar with:
If this was the case, the Shroud would have had to have been suspended in mid-air, but Swordmaster's explanation seems more plausible, and in conformity with Jewish custom.