Altes Museum - Vorderseite einer Aschenkiste, Schleifung der Dirke

The Etruscan civilization was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered at its greatest extent, roughly what is now Tuscany, western Umbria, and northern Lazio, as well as what are now the Po Valley, Emilia-Romagna, south-eastern Lombardy, southern Veneto, and western Campania. The earliest evidence of a culture that is identifiably Etruscan dates from about 900 BC. This is the period of the Iron Age Villanovan culture, considered to be the earliest phase of Etruscan civilization, which itself developed from the previous late Bronze Age Proto-Villanovan culture in the same region. Etruscan civilization endured until it was assimilated into Roman society. Assimilation began in the late 4th century BC as a result of the Roman–Etruscan Wars; it accelerated with the grant of Roman citizenship in 90 BC, and became complete in 27 BC, when the Etruscans' territory was incorporated into the newly established Roman Empire.

An urn is a vase, often with a cover that usually has a somewhat narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an ‘urn’, as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape or origin. The term is especially often used for funerary urns, vessels used in burials, either to hold the cremated ashes or as grave goods, but is used in many other contexts. Large sculpted vases are often called urns, whether placed outdoors, in gardens or as architectural ornaments on buildings, or kept inside. Cremation urn means a container where the cremated remains or cremation ashes received after cremating a dead body can be stored. Cremation ashes urns have been used throughout the history of mankind. Cremation has a longer history than most people expect. Cremation is one of the longest standing processes and memorial traditions in our history. Cremation has long been a controversial topic throughout human history. Some cultures and religions support cremation, some find it lugubrious and even go as far as to say that it is an inappropriate disposition of the human body. Interesting to note is that while many religions are up in the air as to whether cremation is acceptable or not - even to this day - cremation was part of the memorial traditions in the stone age.