Terracotta Funerary Plaque in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sept. 2007

Terracotta funerary plaque
Greek, Attic, black-figure, late 7th century BC
Said to be from Attica
Prothesis (laying out of the dead)

Accession # 14.146.3a

During the Archaic period, burial shafts in Attica were often covered with solid, rectangular, houselike structures with plastered mud-brick walls and slightly sloping roofs. A series of terracotta plaques showing different stages of the funeral were probably set into the other walls. In this very early example, the deceased is shown lying on a bier surrounded by mourners.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.