- chapter 33: The imagery of tomb objects –
fi nest pottery, especially in the case of Etruscan and Attic fi gured wares, seems to have
been used (ultimately, at any rate) for dedication at sanctuaries and for placing in tombs.
An important issue is whether painted pots and the other contents of tombs were
possessions of the deceased when alive or whether they were bought or manufactured
expressly for burial. One thinks of the gold jewelry that is such a striking feature of the
great “princely” tombs of the seventh century bc. Many of these items are suitable for
actually wearing, but others, such as the 30-centimeter-long Regolini-Galassi granulated
brooch (see Chapter 6, Fig. 6.20; Sprenger and Bartoloni: 1977: pl. 18), are unlikely to
have been worn. Was this made specially as a solace for the dead person in the grave? Not
necessarily: the fabulously wealthy had to store their gold in some form, and having huge
ornaments made out of it was perhaps as convenient a form for the storeroom as any other.
There are also indications that some tomb goods, pottery especially, were in use before
burial. For example, a couple of bucchero chalices had had their feet carefully repaired
before being placed in a tomb at Orvieto (Bizzarri 1962: 127, Fig. 41), some bucchero
jugs show decoration that is worn from repeated placement of the thumb on the handle
while pouring (Regter 2003: nos 17, 78), while among the pots of Monte Abatone 610
were three Athenian black-glazed cups, the largest of which has repair holes drilled for
the handle and foot (Fig. 33.1).
If such care could be given to vessels of modest appearance it is no surprise that ancient
repairs to Athenian fi gured pottery are also known (Elston 1990), and the fi ne condition
of some of these items suggests they also come from tombs, most probably from Etruria.
How the Etruscans acquired their Greek pots is not irrelevant here. Most Athenian
painted pots were for the symposium, and the theory that many of them were used once at
Athens and then shipped off to Etruria to be traded second-hand found little favor when
fi rst proposed (Webster 1972) but it has more recently enjoyed increasing acceptance
Figure 33.1 Attic black-gloss cup, detail of repair holes (after Moretti 1966). Excavated at Cerveteri,
Monte Abatone tomb 610; Museo Etrusco di Villa Giulia.