Cinerary urn

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This ceramic urn was found at Blackdan Farm at Aberlemno in Angus. It was used to hold cremated remains, buried upside down in a pit or cist, sometime between 2050 and 1600 BC.

The urn is decorated with a mixture of circular jabbed impressions, incisions arranged in a herringbone pattern and applied straight and wavy ribs and pellets. The decoration extends from the inside of the rim down to just above the base.

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

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• Online ID: 000-100-035-029-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  X.EA 230
• Date: Between 2050 and 1600 BC
  
• Material: Clay, reddish-brown; encrusted; base missing
  Pottery / cinerary urn
  
• Dimensions: 14.75" H; mouth 11.88" external D; 16.00" max external D
  
• What: Pottery / cinerary urn
  
• Subject:
• Who:
• Where: Scotland, Angus, Aberlemno, Blackdan Farm
  
• Event:
• Description: Encrusted urn of reddish-brown clay, from Blackdan Farm, Aberlemno, Angus
  
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