Hut urns, miniaturized huts functioning as cinerary vessels, are found in graves from Etruria and Latium dating to the Early Iron Age. I examine four historical approaches to the study of hut urns: (1) the method of using hut urns as physical models for huts, (2) comparisons between Italian hut urns and Northern European house urns, (3) comparisons between hut urns and later Etruscan tombs, and (4) the examination of hut urns within the funerary context to understand social structures of the Italian Early Iron Age. A more holistic approach to studying hut urns demonstrates that Iron Age Italians imbued their huts with social significance and that the huts were used to create and express elite male social status. It is because of this social significance that the miniaturized huts were used in the funerary context.