CINERARY URNS. 



67 



shape. They range in height from five or six inches to about 

 three feet; the breadth at the widest part being usually about 

 the same as the height. The most common shape is that of 

 two truncated cones, placed the one upon the other, the broadest 

 parts in apposition, the upper rather overlapping the lower and 

 being about half its depth [fig. 54]. The mouth is therefore 



Fig. 54. . 



contracted, and the upper cone constitutes the rim, which is 

 overhanging. The ornamentation is very often confined to the 

 rim, but is also frequently continued below it, and in some cases 

 extends over the whole surface of the urn ; the inner part of the 

 lip of the rim has also, in many cases, a pattern upon it. The bottom 

 of the urn is small in comparison with the mouth, and is usually 

 not above one-third of its diameter. This form is found distributed 

 over nearly the whole of Britain ; but in Dorsetshire and the 



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