The custom, followed by the inhabitants of Greece and Italy for many centuries, of placing in tombs articles used in daily life, has preserved large numbers of objects which would otherwise have perished. The dead was surrounded by the belongings he had valued; the warrior had his arms, the woman her ornaments, mirror, and toilet boxes, and the child his toys. An idea of the prevalence of the custom may be formed by looking through the collection with this fact in mind. The greater part of the Greek pottery now in existence was found in tombs, not only in Greece but in Italy and in many other parts of the Mediterranean world. The bronze chariot and the utensils in Case S in the Third Room were the tomb furniture of an Etruscan noble. The beautiful bronze table service in Case E in the same room, and the table service of black-glazed pottery in Case G in the Seventh Room were also found in tombs. In Case F in the Sixth Room are the toilet articles and utensils buried in the grave of an Etruscan lady, the terracotta figurines in the Sixth and Seventh Rooms were made to be placed in graves, and many separate objects in the collection have been preserved in the same manner. ITALY. The earliest inhabitants of Italy did not practise cremation, but this custom was introduced in prehistoric times, both cremation and burial continuing in use contemporaneously. [Illustration: FIG. 154. ETRUSCAN URN] [Illustration: FIG. 155. ETRUSCAN URN] The Etruscans placed the ashes of the dead in jars with smaller vases and ornaments and buried them in pits; or for the wealthy, tomb-chambers were built and arranged to resemble rooms in the houses of the living, the cinerary urns being set in niches, or the bodies being laid out on biers. Their urns in the earlier periods were frequently made in a very rude imitation of a human being with portrait head, and were often placed in terracotta chairs. Two examples are in Case N in the Second Room (fig. 153). Curious trays of dishes, probably used for offerings to the dead and known as “focolari,” are not uncommonly found in tombs. Examples are in Cases R and Q in the Second Room (fig. 151). In later times rectangular stone boxes, sculptured or painted, with a reclining figure of the deceased on the cover, were used. There are several of these urns in the Seventh Room, in Cases N and P and on Pedestals E and U (figs. 154-155). [Illustration: FIG. 156. ROMAN GRAVE MONUMENT]