acronympathology:Cinerary Urn of a Roman Girl, Plautia Hesperis from Italy, Roman Empire (about 1st
acronympathology:Cinerary Urn of a Roman Girl, Plautia Hesperis from Italy, Roman Empire (about 1st century AD)Inscribed: PLAVTIA HESPERIS / VIXIT AN[NOS] XVI (Plautia Hesperis / She lived sixteen years.)Prior to AD 100, the Romans typically cremated their dead and placed the ashes and remaining bones in urns and ossuaries. The front of this urn is adorned with heart-shaped ivy leaves and an inscription that identifies the deceased, a young woman named Plautia Hesperis. Much like modern headstones, the inscription indicates the length of her life (“Lived 16 years”). The lid is adorned with simple rosettes at the corners, while an eagle, thought by the Romans to carry the deceased’s soul into the realm of the gods, is perched at its centre. -- source link