ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses several types of peculiar funerary urns found at the Roman-period cemeteries of Slovenia in the attempt to explain the factors potentially influencing the choice of urn. As the arguably last opportunity for negotiating a person's identity, it is reasonable to assume funerary rituals were carefully deliberated and shaped by both personal and social considerations. The Roman conquest of what is now Slovenian territory has precipitated by centuries of far-reaching social changes, which are reflected in the funerary sphere as well. Since cremation was the prevalent treatment of the body in the first two centuries after the Roman conquest, urns are a common find, but mortuary studies tend to focus more on burial types and grave goods, while urns have been explored to a somewhat lesser degree. This chapter aims to fill in some of the blanks, it highlights a number of interesting and telling examples, and illuminates a small, but notable part of the complex society that inhabited Roman-period Slovenia.
