i have picked up the shovel and gone to the spot where i need to bury them, but there's no way i can find to do this. he doesn't take the shovel in his hand, there's no 'spot' that comes up on the earth, nor does the option come up. how do i do this?

There is a hotspot on the ground near the large tree, look down and move around until you see a dig option in the lower right of the screen. Not sure if having the UI turned off prevents this so make sure it's on. Just having the shovel in inventory is all that is required to use it, it won't equip.

thankyou, i'll give it a try

EDIT: this worked. had to crouch and move around to find the spot but i got it in the end. thankyou so much :P