- chapter 29: Tarquinia, Sacred areas and sanctuaries –
orientation (340°) from that of the temples (east-west) and its features are hard to assess
because it was sealed under altar α of the subsequent third phase of the sanctuary, which
is the most evident (Figs 29.11–12). Observing its layout and ignoring the presence of
the stone chest, the previous literature review supported the idea that altar α, with the
adjacent precinct β, was Archaic and celebrated the ancestral spot where Tages sprang from
a clod in the ground. According to literary sources Tages was the child who appeared
looking like an old man who taught Tarchon, the founder of Tarquinia, the secrets of the
Etrusca disciplina. Nevertheless, the results of excavations held since 1983 show that both
altar α and precinct β belong to the third phase of the sanctuary and that their orientation
depends on that of the cultic arrangement focused on the Archaic stone chest and wall γ.
The third phase of the sanctuary, set at the beginning of the fourth century bc,
represents the most consistent refurbishing of the whole sanctuary with the construction
of a huge terrace in front of the base of the Temples. The terrace incorporated wall γ,
which was partially destroyed, and the location of the stone chest, which was sealed under
altar α. At the same time a hero cult presumably was conducted only once on top of the
Figure 29.11 Tarquinia, Ara della Regina sanctuary, the south-east corner of the terrace with the
Archaic structures. Courtesy of Università degli Studi di Milano, “Progetto Tarquinia,” archive.Figure 29.12 Tarquinia, Ara della Regina sanctuary, the stone chest from the east.
Courtesy of Università degli Studi di Milano, “Progetto Tarquinia” archive.