In Classical Athens cremation of the dead was, at least until the fourth century B.C., a burial practice of limited frequency. Two types of cremation need to be distinguished: primary and secondary. In primary cremation the corpse was reduced to ashes inside the grave; in secondary cremation it was incinerated on a pyre outside the grave and the ashes were then buried in a clay (or metal) urn. Primary cremation had made its appearance by the Archaic period; it was secondary cremation, however, which was the commoner practice of the two and where there is greater variety in the types of ash urn used. Clay ash urns were pots, either without any decoration or painted in the red-figure style. Normally they were not purpose-made for burials, but had previously served as household utensils.

The urn was laid directly on the earth or was placed in a protective box. A bronze lebes or hydria (placed in a small stone box with a lid) often served as an ash urn. In a few cases traces of the cloth wrapped round the cremated body or round its receptacle have survived. Cremation of infants was a practice acceptable to Classical Athenians, but was not at all popular. The bones of small children have been found in the remains of a pyre, but we cannot be sure whether this is a case of infant cremation or the remains of burnt offerings.

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