Record

Cinerary urn

< 1 of 1 > Back

From Kettle Farm, Fife

Postcard of Cinerary urn.
000-100-035-872-C
© National Museums Scotland

Cinerary urn

This ceramic urn was found in a flat Bronze Age cremation cemetery at Kettle Farm in Fife. It was used to hold cremated human remains sometime between 2000 and 1500 BC. Unusually it was found upright in a pit.

The urn has a heavy overhanging rim. It is decorated with incised lines and lines of twisted and whipped cord impressions, arranged in zigzag, lattice and other patterns.

By around 1750 BC, in mainland Scotland, cremation had become the favoured funerary custom. Cremated remains were gathered from the funeral pyre and usually placed in a large pottery urn, its top covered by a skin or stone.


Record details

To search on related items, click any linked text below.

Online ID: 000-100-035-872-C
Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
Project: 0098: National Museums Scotland
Project description | View all records in project
Ref: National Museums Scotland  X.EQ 348
Date: Between 2000 and 1500 BC
Material: Ceramic, dark; rim heavy and overhanging; broad concavity below; zigzag, lattice and other patterns
Dimensions: 11.88" H; mouth 9.75" D; shoulder 10.00" D; base 4.00" D
What: Pottery / urn
Subject:
Who:
Where: Scotland, Fife, Kingskettle, Kettle Farm
Event:
Description: Urn of dark ware with heavy overhanging rim, decorated with zigzag, lattice and other patterns, from Kettle Farm, Fife
References:
  • Longworth, I.H. Collared urns of the Bronze Age in Great Britain and Ireland. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984. 
Translations:
Related Records:
< 1 of 1 > Back
 
Powered by Scran