- Maria Anna De Lucia Brolli and Jacopo Tabolli –
Narce instead, local pottery production is characterized by a greater variety of types and
expression, not so much of an organized artisanal system as of single artistic personalities
active at Narce and not only the famous “Painter of Narce” (Canciani 1974, Martelli
1987, Micozzi 1994, Szilágy 2005, Boitani et al. 2010).
With the Archaic period between the sixth and fi fth centuries bc it is particularly
Falerii that progressively tends to assume a central role in the political and economic
system of the region, consolidating its hegemony over the territory and satellite
communities placed in control of the focal points. The city is endowed with a system of
urban and suburban sanctuaries located along the access roads and near the city gates.
Strategically positioned in front of the acropolis of Vignale, on the valley fl oor, from the
fi rst half of the sixth century bc the shrine of Juno Curitis becomes a landmark not only
for the Faliscan community (Colonna 1985, p. 110–113; Benedettini, Carlucci, De Lucia
Brolli 2005; Albers 2007) (Fig. 14.7). Falerii becomes at this stage one of the towns most
receptive of Attic pottery of high quality, fi rst black-fi gure and then red-fi gure pottery
that, creating a substrate of familiarity, will form the basis for subsequent local fi gured
products (Ambrosini 2005, 2009).
Our knowledge on the articulation of internal organization of settlement at Narce is
more limited. The only extensive investigation, in 1933 by R. Mengarelli, was on the
plain of Pizzo Piede (De Lucia Brolli and Baglione 1997; Baglione and De Lucia Brolli
2004). The urban excavations have revealed a small but signifi cant group of architectural
terracottas that reveal the presence of an urban sanctuary from at least the late sixth
century bc (Fig. 14.8).
The existence of a belt of suburban sanctuaries is tied to the foot of Monte Li Santi,
where, corresponding to two small areas along the alluvial plain of the Treja, were found the
remains of a temple building abandoned early (1890–1891 and 1901 excavations) and a very
sophisticated complex of buildings and open-air altars from the fi rst half of the fi fth century
bc lasting until the end of the second century bc (Excavations 1985–2003) (De Lucia
Brolli 1990, 1990a; Benedettini et al. 1999, De Lucia Brolli - Benedettini 2002). Given
the limited information on actual areas of the settlement in this chronological horizon, the
Figure 14.7 Example of architectural terracottas from Falerii (via Gramsci).