cinerary urn

Funerary urn in the shape of a house with lid, dating to the 9th century BC, from the necropolis of Osteria dell'Orsa, near Rome, Italy. The Iron Age Villanovan culture that spread through Italy between the 10th and 8th centuries BC is characterized by greater skills in metallurgy and a gradual increase in the use of iron, as well as by the practice of cremation, in which ashes would be placed in an urn in the ground.

Any vessel for containing the ashes of a cremated body. Usually made of clay, glass, or sculptured marble, a typical urn is large and flowerpot-shaped, decorated only on the top. Other varieties are broad and low-standing like food bowls, or tall and slim like drinking cups, and have decorative designs covering the whole surface.

Cinerary urns are an important cultural indicator in prehistoric societies where cremation was practised and little other evidence has survived. As one of the most common remains of the European Bronze Age, they have been used as the basis of many cultural subdivisions and chronologies for this period.