- Jean Gran-Aymerich with Jean MacIntosh Turfa –
In the Celtic hinterland, from the very fi rst excavations (as at Klein Aspergle), the
princely tombs dating to the late Hallstatt and the beginning of the La Tène periods
attest the frequent presence of an Etruscan bronze vase, more rarely two or three (as at
Vix). They are high quality pieces, well made even if mass-produced, which the Celtic
world has brought to light in considerable numbers – some 200 examples (oinochoai,
stamnoi, situlae, basins). Likewise, Archaic Greek bronze vases are known though only a
very small number of masterpieces, remarkable for the quality of the work and, for some,
for their large dimensions (the hydria from Grächwill, the Vix krater, the cauldron from
Hochdorf). The primary distribution of these tombs with Etruscan metal vases, at the
end of the sixth century and the beginning of the fi fth, is the upper Danube valley and
the Rhine, with a strong concentration in the Hunsrück-Eiffel area. This distribution
extends to the western regions traversed by the upper Seine (for Vix) and the elbow
of the middle Loire (for Bourges). No tomb in the Celtic hinterland has yet revealed
Etruscan ceramics, although Attic cups are attested and, quite exceptionally, a small
Greek transport amphora in the tumulus of Mercey-sur-Saône.^127
For the Iberian hinterland, we observe the same absence of Etruscan ceramics and the
same presence of Greek cups, even though several tombs contained a bronze vase or an
expensive item such as an ivory casket. Thus the Schnabelkanne from tomb 57 in Cigarralejo
(Mula, Murcie), the vase with the ephebe-style handle from the monumental tomb at
Pozo Moro (Albacete), the ivory casket from the necropolis of sculpted monuments at
Los Villares (Albacete) (Fig. 17.13). One might also add the Etruscan bronzes from the
interior of the peninsula whose funerary origins appear assured, such as the examples from
Segobriga and Cuenca (Castille-La Mancha), from Alcurrucén (Cordoba) and from Cabecico
del Tesoro (Murcia). Huelva, located at the mouth of the river open to the Atlantic, is
remarkable in this respect: two bronze vases (Rhodian style oinochoai) are attested in the
rich assemblages of two tombs from which Etruscan ceramics are absent, even though
at the port sector close to the necropolis bucchero and Etrusco-Corinthian ware are well
attested, and even Etruscan transport amphorae. The recent discovery in the settlement of
Huelva of late Villanovan style impasto vases (eighth century) must also be noted here.^128
The Mediterranean littoral presents a more structured and complex panorama. Outside
of the Tyrrhenian Sea, we note the presence of funerary assemblages with Etruscan objects
in three regions: the north-western Mediterranean, the Balearics and southern Iberia and
the site of Carthage. Bronzes and ceramics are represented to different degrees, but their
combined presence in the same funerary context, as at Pertuis in Provence, the Cayla de
Mailhac in Languedoc or Empúries/Ampurias in Catalonia, is utterly rare.^129
The north-western Mediterranean littoral, from Provence to Catalonia, reveals tombs
with Etruscan goods, some being located in proximity to important port sites such
as Lattes (tomb with a strigil, tombs with Etruscan vases) and Empúries (tomb of the
mirror, tombs with ceramics). In Agde, the necropolis of Peyrou has brought to light
two apparently Etrusco-Geometric cups from the second half of the seventh century.^130
The majority of tombs in the south of France containing Etruscan objects are located near
the seaside. In western and central Languedoc, the tombs with Etruscan amphorae are
known in the larger necropoleis, such as Saint-Julien de Pézenas and the Grand-Bassin at
Mailhac, as well as isolated examples.^131 Amongst the most remarkable assemblages from
the Midi are the tumuli of Pertuis in Provence (Vaucluse), containing a Rhodian style
oinochoe and an Etrusco-Geometric cup from the end of the seventh century. Le Cayla
de Mailhac, in Languedoc (Aude) has revealed Etruscan goods from the sixth and fi fth