Urn and pot

This steatite urn and small pot were found in a disturbed two-storeyed cist grave at Little Asta at Tingwall in Shetland. Both pots were empty when found, but some cremated bones were found in the cist. The burial probably dates from 1800 to 1200 BC.

The urn is thick-walled, with curving sides. The smaller pot is roughly rectangular in shape.

Inhabitants of the Northern Isles had their own distinctive funerary customs during the 2nd millennium BC, burying their dead in distinctive pots. Some used local supplies of steatite, a soft and easily carved stone, for their urns and accessory vessels.

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