Cremation is an ancient burial ritual that many of today’s families opt for when it comes to the disposition of the remains of a loved one.

For centuries many of the world’s various cultures have honored a death and the mourning process that follows by saving some of the ashes, a lock of hair, or other ceremonial items, sometimes in very simple urns, others in very expensive and intricately decorated cremation urns.

Excavations in ancient Egypt have also revealed that items such as dried flowers or etchings, were buried with the dead, and that even beloved pets were either buried with their owners and given very special burial rights.  Read more about this by clicking here.

Mummified cats, in particular, have been discovered, deep inside the burial sarcophagus, adorned with jade, turquoise, gold and other precious stones.  These revelations show that pets played just as valuable a role in providing their owners with happiness and loyalty as the do today.

Today, we don’t hear much about pets being buried alongside their owners, but there are cemeteries designated for animals all over the US.  And, there is no shortage of styles of special, hand-crafted pet urns and memorials to choose from that are designed to display photos of pets and contain their ashes as a way to continue to honor their role in our lives log after they have passed on.