The Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tarquinia are two large monumental burial areas dating back to the period between the 9th and the 1st century BC and bear exceptional witness to the ancient Etruscan civilization, its history and distinctive characteristics. The necropolises feature different typologies of tombs, characterized by monumental architecture and wall paintings of outstanding quality that document the material and cultural life of the Etruscan people, which developed in Central Italy, in particular in Tuscany, part of Umbria and Northern Latium, between the Arno and the Tiber and the Tyrrhenian coast.
[expand title=”A jump from proto-history to history: the Etruscans”]
The Etruscans are the only urban civilization in pre-Roman Italy; the most ancient stage coincides with the transition from the Bronze Age to the early Iron Age (late 10th – early 9th century BC) and is characterized by the presence of scattered settlements: small villages of huts on hills. A significant change occurred in the late 8th century BC: the small villages were progressively abandoned and the population tended to concentrate on larger urban areas on hills, surrounded by walls and natural defences and with an initial organization of public spaces, giving birth to the first towns. In that period, called orientalising and corresponding to the 7th century BC, powerful oligarchies raised to power in the main Etruscan towns; this strong social hierarchization can be seen in the necropolises and the monumental tumuli, especially in Cerveteri, are the most representative example of the power of the Etruscan princes. The archaeological site included in the World Heritage List consists of two areas: the Banditaccia Necropolis in Cerveteri (RM) and the Monterozzi Necropolis in Tarquinia (VT). The Banditaccia Necropolis is the most important and famous of the ancient Caere, extends for tens of hectares and includes monumental tombs with unique characteristics. The Monterozzi Necropolis, famous for the presence of hundreds of painted tombs, is one of the most extraordinary archaeological complexes in the Mediterranean area.[/expand]
[expand title=”The Banditaccia: the city of the dead of Cerveteri”]
The Banditaccia Etruscan Necropolis in Cerveteri is the main example of Etruscan funerary architecture and one of the most important archaeological sites in the Mediterranean area. The visitable area, approximately ten hectares, is called “of the Fence” and was systematically excavated from 1909 to 1933 by Raniero Mengarelli (old fence) and, after the Second World War, by Mario Moretti (new fence). This ancient cemetery extends for hundreds of hectares on a tuffaceous plateau to the west of the ancient Civita. The tombs were excavated through the tuffaceous bank, accurately reproducing the plan and the furniture of contemporary dwellings. It is possible to chronologically follow and understand the evolution of Etruscan funerary architecture over more than six centuries. The most ancient tombs, dating back to the early 7th century BC, are tumulus shaped. One or more tombs were realized within these huge circular structures and used by the different generations of the same family. The 7th century BC corresponds to the Orientalizing stage: Etruria, like many other regions of the ancient Mediterranean area, was influenced by the art of the Near East. The interior of the tombs shows a common plan, two or three rooms along a longitudinal axis, and the double pitched ceiling refers to a structure still similar to a hut. In its initial stage (7th – 6th century BC), the necropolis was an area dotted with huge tumuli surrounded by monumental buildings with the same shape and smaller size. This layout of the tombs suggests an archaic society organized around the figure of aristocratic princes. Around the second half of the 6th century BC (archaic period), the tombs were built along parallel roads, with a more regular shape known as “diced” that reflects an egalitarian urban society with a more homogenous distribution of wealth, in which the tombs assume a standard appearance. The 6th century BC coincided with the maximum territorial expansion of Etruria, with newly established colonies in the Po Valley and the Adriatic coasts, a monopoly on the trade routes of the western Mediterranean sea and Etruscan kings ruling Rome. Afterwards, between the 4th and 1st centuries BC, due to the lack of available space on the surface, tombs began to be built underground, lowering the road level and creating a series of hypogea at greater depth, some of them of significant size such as the Tomb of Reliefs and other simpler ones, aligned on precise patterns. Again, the divarication within the Etruscan society is evident. This last stage of the Etruscan history was characterized by the loss of control on the Tyrrhenian trade routes and the wars against Rome, which conquered all the Etruscan cities in a century and a half.[/expand]
[expand title=”Tarquinia and the painted tombs”]
Tarquinia is located not far from the Tyrrhenian coast, like most centres in southern Etruria. According to tradition, it was founded by Tarconte by order of the mythical hero Tyrrhene; in Tarquinia the genius Tagete, Jupiter’s grandson, is said to have leaped out from a furrow and given the twelve cities of the Etruscan people the rudiments of the haruspex knowledge. The myth seems to agree with the archaeological documentation dating back to the early Iron Age (9th – 8th centuries BC), a period that saw the strengthening of ancient tribal ties in religious-cultural terms and the conversions of the scattered built up areas towards the Pian di Civita area. The necropolises of this stage are characterized by cremation tombs, with funeral equipment consisting of simple items but with a great symbolic value. Following the economic growth of the 8th century BC and the several contacts with the external world, funerary rites changed to burial. Tumulus tombs became the territorial symbol of Tarquinia princes, full of items of value imported from Phoenicia, Greece and the East. The appearance of handicraft productions and trade and cultural relationships were the distinctive characteristics of Tarquinia in the 7th century BC, a city totally ready to accept external influences. Indeed, tradition places in this period the arrival in Tarquinia of Demaratus, a rich trader from the Greek town of Corinth, who spread different arts among the Etruscans and was the father of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, the first Etruscan king of Rome. This agrees with the remains of an important sacred area used for Greek cults and founded approximately in 600 BC at the main port of the city. Moreover, under the influence of Eastern-Greek painters, one of the most original artistic productions in Tarquinia developed in the 6th century BC: funerary painting. Daily life scenes of the dead person and funeral rituals are the most frequent representations. This exceptional season – defined as “the first chapter of Italian painting history” by the great etruscologist Massimo Pallottino – lasted until the Hellenistic period (4th – 3rd century BC). The crisis that hit Etruria after the defeat suffered by the Etruscans at Cuma in 474 BC only partially affected the “great and flourishing” Tarquinia. In the 4th century BC, the main temple of the city – known as the Altar of the Queen – was restored and embellished with a new decoration of architectural terrecotte of great value, such as the group of the Winged Horses found in 1938. The progressive expansion of Roman power seemed to try sorely the city for the whole 4th century until Tarquinia was defeated and conquered by Rome in 281 BC. As always, the necropolises faithfully reflect the city life, showing a reduction in the number of aristocratic tombs, a sign of the unequivocal decline of the “richest city in Etruria”.[/expand]
