What is an urn? - The History and Significance of an urn

Cremation urns are among the oldest objects humans have made, stretching back thousands of years across almost every culture. This guide traces what an urn is, where the word comes from, and how the practice of cremation and the urns that hold the ashes have evolved from the Stone Age to today.

Quick answer: A cremation urn is a vessel that holds a person's or pet's ashes after cremation. The word comes from the Latin "urna", meaning a jar or vessel. The earliest known cremation urns date to around 7000 B.C. in Jiahu, China, and the practice spread through the Bronze Age, ancient Greece and Rome, faded under early Christianity, then revived strongly in the late 19th century. Today cremation is the majority choice in the UK (over 77%) and is growing across Europe and North America.

What does the word "urn" mean?

"Urn" comes from the Latin urna, meaning a jar or vessel, and some link it to urere, "to burn". While urns have historically held everything from hot drinks to ballots, the most common meaning today is a container for the ashes of someone who has died. Most are decorated in some way.

What is a cremation urn?

A cremation urn is a receptacle made to hold cremated remains. They come in many forms, sizes and materials, and can be a permanent home for the ashes, kept in a family home, a columbarium or a crypt. Keeping ashes in an urn lets a family remember a loved one close by, or in a public memorial space where future generations can pay their respects.

How old is the practice of cremation?

The earliest known cremation urns were found at Jiahu in China, where 32 urns of differing sizes (suggesting both adults and children) date to around 7000 B.C. The act of reducing a body to ash is thought to reach back to the early Stone Age, around 3000 B.C., most likely in Europe and the Near East, with decorative Stone Age pottery in western Russia believed to have held ashes.

Cremation spread through the Bronze Age (2500 to 1000 B.C.), reaching the British Isles and Iberia, with cemeteries set aside for ashes appearing across Hungary, Italy, northern Europe and Ireland. By around 1000 B.C., in the Mycenaean age, cremation was common in ancient Greece, and Homer's Iliad describes it as a fitting end for fallen warriors. Under the Roman Empire it was used for honored members of society, with ashes kept in urns inside columbarium-like buildings.

As early Christianity rose in the later Roman era, cremation fell out of favor, discouraged as pagan, and burial took over, a shift cemented under Constantine in the 4th century. Through the Middle Ages cremation was even used as a form of punishment, and it remained rare in the West for centuries.

When did cremation become popular again?

The modern revival began in the late 19th century. In England, rapid urban growth after 1800 put pressure on churchyards, and by the 1850s a shortage of burial space led Parliament to favor cemeteries over churchyards. An urn design shown by the Italian Brunetti at the 1873 Vienna World Fair drew attention, and Sir Henry Thompson, Queen Victoria's physician, founded the Cremation Society of England in 1874, leading to early crematoria in Woking, England, and Gotha, Germany.

North America followed in the same years, with the first crematory built in Washington, Pennsylvania, by Dr Julius LeMoyne, driven by clergy seeking burial reform and doctors worried about sanitation near cemeteries. By 1900 there were around 20 US crematories, and in 1913 Dr Hugo Erichsen organized them under the Cremation Association of America. Religious attitudes softened too: the Catholic Church lifted its ban in the 1960s, and the 1983 Code of Canon Law confirmed it does not forbid cremation.

How popular is cremation today?

Cremation is now the majority choice in the UK and is growing across Europe and North America. The UK rate rose from about 34.7% in 1960 to 77.05% in 2017, while Japan reached around 99% by 2019. Lower cost, limited land and a growing preference for greener options all help explain the trend. You can compare the costs in our guide on cremation and burial costs.

How do ancient urns compare to those of today?

Ancient urns were often deeply personal. Bronze Age urns from Pomerania, by the Baltic, were carved with lifelike faces, fabric textures and tattoo patterns. Iron Age urns from Tamil Nadu in southern India carried leaf and animal motifs echoing local cave paintings, and Amazonian urns were decorated with glass beads set in resin. Today that same instinct to personalize remains: families choose urns that reflect a faith, a passion or a personality, from classic and artistic ceramics to biodegradable urns that return ashes to the earth or water, and discreet designs that do not look like urns at all.

Modern families also increasingly keep a small portion in a keepsake urn or ashes jewellery, and pet cremation continues to grow. For ideas on what to do with ashes, see our hub on what to do with ashes after cremation.

Frequently asked questions

What does the word "urn" mean?

It comes from the Latin "urna", meaning a jar or vessel, possibly linked to "urere", "to burn". Today it most often means a container for holding the ashes of someone who has died.

How old are cremation urns?

The earliest known cremation urns date to around 7000 B.C. at Jiahu in China, where 32 urns of varying sizes were found. The practice of cremation itself may reach back to roughly 3000 B.C. in the early Stone Age.

Why did cremation fall out of use for so long?

As early Christianity spread in the later Roman era, cremation was discouraged as pagan and burial became the norm, a position reinforced under Constantine. It remained rare in the West through the Middle Ages before reviving in the late 19th century.

How common is cremation now?

It is the majority choice in the UK, rising from about 35% in 1960 to over 77% by 2017, and is growing across Europe and North America. Japan reached around 99% by 2019.