The word pithos is derived from the Greek word pithoi which means a large storage container. These types of containers were used during Neolithic Bronze Age and Iron Age thereafter by the civilizations that existed near Mediterranean Sea. Pithos is a huge, porcelain stowage vessel fixed on earth with no flat base. Pithos was used during that age for storing a large quantity of grain or oil and has a lid to cover the grains or oil stored inside. It was also used for human burial as coffins.