grave goods
Tomb's accompanying objects
Grave goods are objects placed with a body at burial—tools, weapons, jewelry, food, or other items the dead might need in an afterlife.
The practice spans cultures and millennia, from Egyptian pharaohs buried with golden treasures to Viking warriors interred with swords and ships.
Archaeologists study grave goods to understand ancient beliefs, social status, and daily life.
Things presented or given
- ceremonyFormal event marking occasions
- ritesFormal ceremonial acts
- funerary ritesCeremonies for the dead
- libationCeremonial drink offering
sacrifice · votive · consecration · propitiation · ancestor worship · shaman · incantation · mourning
Underground chamber for remains
- coffinBurial container for remains
- sarcophagusCarved stone burial container
- shroudBurial cloth or covering
- mausoleumMonumental building for interment
crypt · sepulcher · necropolis · urn · interment · funerary · embalming · mortuary
Fired clay objects
- jewelryOrnamental personal accessories
- weaponsTools for fighting
- amuletsObjects worn for protection
- figurinesSmall ornamental sculptures
beads · tools · textiles · vessels · ceramics · statuettes · ornaments · personal effects
Existence beyond mortality
- soulInnermost animating essence
- spiritSoul, mood, or liquor
- underworldRealm of the departed
- heavenSky or bliss
ancestors · reincarnation · immortality · eternity · paradise · nirvana · resurrection · judgment
offerings
Things presented or given
- ceremonyFormal event marking occasions
- ritesFormal ceremonial acts
- funerary ritesCeremonies for the dead
libation · sacrifice · votive · consecration · propitiation · ancestor worship · shaman · incantation · mourning · commemoration
tomb
Underground chamber for remains
- coffinBurial container for remains
- sarcophagusCarved stone burial container
- shroudBurial cloth or covering
mausoleum · crypt · sepulcher · necropolis · urn · interment · funerary · embalming · mortuary · inhumation
pottery
Fired clay objects
figurines · beads · tools · textiles · vessels · ceramics · statuettes · ornaments · personal effects · heirlooms
afterlife
Existence beyond mortality
- soulInnermost animating essence
- spiritSoul, mood, or liquor
- underworldRealm of the departed
heaven · ancestors · reincarnation · immortality · eternity · paradise · nirvana · resurrection · judgment · ba
treasure
Valued wealth or keepsake
- hoardHidden accumulated valuables
- richesAbundant valuable possessions
- valuablesPossessions of significant worth
gold · jewelry · crown · scepter · diadem · regalia · coinage · status · prestige · elite
bronze
Copper-tin alloy
copper · ivory · jade · amber · obsidian · flint · bone · shell · faience · lapis lazuli
- Asian PrehistoryPaleolithic, Bronze Age, Chalcolithic, hunter-gatherers, stone tools
- funeral customsburial, funeral, cremation, funeral procession, casket
- funeralsfuneral, burial, cremation, casket, coffin
- prehistorystone tools, Neolithic, Stone Age, caveman, cavemen
- ancient artifactsjade mask, Viking sword, bronze sculptures, antiquities, Roman coin
- cemeteryheadstone, headstones, tombstone, tombs, epitaphs
grave goodshousehold goods
Items for domestic use
housewarming gifts · heirlooms · wedding gifts · inheritances · personal effects
good, grave, gravity, goods, goodness, graveyard, goodwill, engrave, engraving