The word "urn" generally brings to mind a drab metal or iron vessel. However, urns for cremation have taken various designs and significance throughout history.

Scientists have documented the early known human creation as taking place over 20,000 years ago in Australia. Cremation processes-and the subsequent handling of cremated ashes-have occurred in various forms throughout history, depending on the time, country, culture, personal and diplomatic beliefs or religious practices.

Some cultures do an open cremation for the deceased, after which they scatter ashes in a sacred location or a river or ocean. Mass cremation has served during an era of war, national catastrophe or widespread disease, in which cases families do not get the ashes of their loved ones. Some cultures cremate and subsequently bury the remains.

Cremation is usually a lower-cost vary to burial. And cremated remains take much less room than burial plots, hence cremation is considered friendlier to the atmosphere.

Modern cremation is the process of placing a deceased person in an industrial furnace at chosen high temperatures for few hours; once than most of the body has vaporized into gases, the remaining bone fragments are into an ash-like powder. These cremation remains, or "cremains" as they are often called, are placed in a sealed container, or urn, and provided to the relatives or families.

Cremation urns often reflect the individuality or preferences of the deceased-and are a way for the living to recall their loved one. Archaeological digs have revealed ancient burial adult urns made of pottery and decorated with illustrations.

Today, urns for human adult ashes are to available as generic or as personalized as a family or individual wishes. They may be wooden, metal, ceramic, clay, bronze, marble, glass or biodegradable. There is also urn jewelry for those who want to save a little portion of the ashes in a fragment of jewelry. These various types of modern high quality exclusive urns often fulfill a variety of purposes.

Cremation remains may be kept in an urn at house, scattered in a location of significance, or buried in a burial urn in a cemetery or in a special memorial building called a columbarium. In all of these cases, the urn plays an important role in celebrating and memorializing the energy of a loved one.