Etruscan Medusa urn contains vases, not ashes

"An Etruscan cinerary urn carved with a high-relief face of Medusa has been revealed to contain no ashes or bones as expected, but rather three terracotta vessels. The vessels, two handled jugs and one cup, are simple and undecorated. The urn is part of the collection of the Palazzone Necropolis, and while it was discovered in the 19th century, it is only now being thoroughly studied."

"It was the burial ground of a settlement overlooking the Tiber Valley, in active use during the Hellenistic Era (3rd-1st century B.C.), although five tombs from the Archaic Era (late 6th, early 5th century B.C.) have been identified. More than 200 rock-carved chamber tombs have been unearthed there, with the grand hypogeum of the wealthy Volumni (Velimna in Etruscan) family standing out as one of the most important extant examples of Hellenistic funerary architecture."

An elaborately carved Etruscan cinerary urn bearing a high-relief Medusa head contained three plain terracotta vessels rather than human ashes or bones. The two handled jugs and a cup are undecorated and date to the 3rd century B.C., contemporaneous with the hypogeum that housed the urn. The Medusa head served as an apotropaic symbol to ward off evil and protect the deceased. The use of an expensive urn for modest contents suggests a symbolic burial when bodies were lost or interred elsewhere, or ritual activity linked to tomb opening. The urn comes from the Palazzone Necropolis near Perugia, a major Hellenistic cemetery with over 200 rock-cut tombs.

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