This burial jar was found in a cave in the interior of the island of Mindanao, in the Southern Philippines. It was used to store human remain in secondary burials. Secondary burial is an ancient practice in the islands of Southeast Asia. When someone passed away they would be buried in a temporary burial then exhumed later. The carefully cleaned bones would then be placed in a burial jar and carefully hidden from grave robbers. Often these jars were decorated with human features such as a face and even arms and legs.
