What Different Cremation Memorial Products Are There?
The rise in popularity of cremation memorials, has become an important staple in the memorial industry, perhaps as important as headstones and caskets. Cremation memorials of all different sorts have been in use for centuries to memorialize the dead, but, as cremation has become more prevalent in recent years, they have become amazingly varied. Traditionally, cremation memorials were simple, vase-like pieces of pottery in which a cremated person’s ashes were stored and displayed for generations. And, while such traditional ceramic cremation vessels are still abundant today, cremation memorials also today take on an amazing array of styles, materials, and even purposes. Though they all have the same basic function, storing the ashes of the deceased, today’s cremation memorials are also all as unique as the people they memorialize.
Whatever their ultimate setting and purpose, cremation memorials are particularly appropriate for memorializing a loved-one because they can be personalized. The unique décor of cremation urns can help cremation memorials speak volumes about the people they memorialize, assuring that memories stay alive for generations to come.
The tradition of cremation memorials dates back to at least the Ancient Greeks who made cremation urns from a special type of urn called a lekythos. In the days of the Roman Empire, these cremation memorials were often displayed together in a collective tomb called a columbarium.
Cremation urns, of course, are often still housed in columbariums, but it is also common to see private residences play host to cremation memorials of different sorts. Cremation memorial urns are also commonly buried in standard graves – often atop the grave of a loved-one. And then there are some cremation urns that come in the form of special, smaller-than-average- sizes called keepsake ash urns, which often used by far flung families who want to share the ashes of their loved ones. And, for those concerned about providing environmentally friendly cremation memorials, special biodegradable urns are often used today for the disposal of cremation ashes.
Urns for cremation memorials come in a wide variety of materials and styles. They can be made of wood, bronze, metal, marble, glass, or ceramic. Different materials, of course, are required for different purposes. If they are to be buried, cremation memorial urns are usually made of bronze or some other metal. If cremation memorial vessels are to be part of a beautifully display at a funeral or in a home, urns are often made of glass, wood, or ceramic. And if cremation memorials are to be outdoors – or part of a columbarium — urns can be made of marble.
Urns are often styled for very specific cremation memorial uses. Elaborately decorated cremation urns are used when cremation memorials are to be displayed in residences or during funerals. Smaller cremation urns are used when cremation memorials are for children or infants. Some cremation urns are designed specifically to be cremation memorials for two people. And still other cremation memorials are designed and decorated to follow important religious, military, or family themes.