The Etruscan World (Routledge Worlds)

• chapter 32: Worshiping with the dead –

and weapons, as well as perishable items such as food were left for the dead. Real house
and palace architecture is refl ected particularly in the Cerveteri tomb type D (especially in
the Tomb of the Tablinum) and later for example in the Tomba François in Vulci and the
Volumnii Tomb in Perugia with their symmetrical layout of several chambers grouped
around a T-shaped nucleus resembling the patrician atrium-tablinum house type, which is
obviously of Etrusco-Italic origin and goes back to the Archaic period. The thrones in the
antechamber of tomb type D may symbolize the potestas and social position of the pater and
mater familias, and their position in the vestibule corresponded probably to the position
of the so-called solium in a contemporary patrician house. Infl uences of palace architecture
manifest themselves particularly in the façade of the house tomb with porticus at Pian
di Mola near Tuscania of the Early Archaic period, infl uences of temple architecture in
the façades of the temple rock tombs in Norchia (Tombe doriche) and Sovana (Tombe
Ildebranda and Pola) of the Early Hellenistic period. We fi nd other elements of house and
palace architecture such as coffered ceilings in tombs at Chiusi, Vulci and Sovana.

LOCAL ELEMENTS AND FOREIGN INFLUENCES

In Etruscan tomb architecture, both local elements and foreign infl uences, models
and parallels are manifesting themselves though such infl uences are not always easy to
prove. According to the different periods and areas in Etruria we can notice infl uences
from Asia Minor (Phrygia, Lydia), Cyprus (Salamis), Syria (Ugarit), Macedonia, Apulia
and Campania. The huge (mainly South) Etruscan tumuli of the Early and Middle
Orientalizing period reveal similarities and possible infl uences particularly from Phrygia,
Lydia, Syria and Cyprus.
The so-called Macedonian tomb type was introduced via Northern Apulia (Daunia)
and Campania fi rst in Southern Etruria (Cerveteri, Orvieto) and later in North Etruria
(Chiusi, Cortona, Perugia). The Hellenistic temple and porticus tombs in the South
Etruscan rock tomb area (Norchia, Sovana) are infl uenced both in architectural and
ideological sense by the monumental Mausolea and Heroa in Asia Minor, connected
with the idea of heroization of the deceased. Their decorations reveal infl uences mostly
from Magna Graecia and Apulia. The general custom of rock tomb architecture was
particularly common in several areas of Asia Minor – especially in the south-west in Lycia
and Caria.

ELEMENTS OF THE ANCESTOR CULT

Etruscan tombs and tomb monuments did not only serve as burial places but also were
sites for funeral rites and for the worship of the dead. Discoveries and researches especially
during the last decades have revealed that particular – mostly architectural – elements of
the tombs and tomb monuments were destined exclusively for the cult and rites in honor
of the deceased and ancestors. Some of these elements are of monumental character and
size. In Cerveteri, Vulci and San Giuliano we fi nd tomb chambers with remains of altars,
thrones and chairs, tables and chests but without any burials, which functioned as cult
rooms for sacrifi ces and rites in honor of the ancestors and deceased. A unique example
is the left lateral room of the Tomb of the Five Chairs in Cerveteri. Among the different
furnishings, which are on a smaller scale than normal, on the fi ve chairs were seated small
terracotta fi gures representing the ancestors in the act of pouring libations and eating