Roman Cremation Chest in the Getty Villa, July 2008

Cremation Chest
Roman, 20-40 AD
Marble and pigment
Cinerarium

Inventory # 72.AA.113

In the first century AD, the dead were usually cremated rather than buried. Their ashes were placed in a marble cinerarium (cremation chest) that was laid in a niche in the family tomb. The flower and bird motifs decorating this cinerarium symbolize fertility and rebirth. The name of the deceased would have been carved or painted on the rectangular panel, but this chest is not labeled.

Text from the Getty Villa museum label.