- Lisa C. Pieraccini –
Figure 43.6 Bronze cheese grater, Cerveteri (?), Villa Giulia Museum, Rome.Figure 43.7 Composite fi bula (bronze and amber) with pendant, early seventh century bc, Narce,
Tomb 23M (after Turfa 2005, no. 34), University of Pennsylvania Museum, image no. 3918.evidently the grater had been ritually destroyed.^49 The signifi cance of ritual destruction
is diffi cult to decipher here. The other bronze grater, found intact, was located in a refuse
pit with Roman debris. These two specimens provide important data regarding graters
found outside the tomb, dating to the Hellenistic period, as well as coming from a small
inland site, like Cetamura.
One of the most abundant sources for understanding food and drink in Etruria
are their containers. The thousands of drinking and pouring vessels produced by the
Etruscans and imported from Greece make them the most common ceramic artifact in
Etruria. Wine held a sacred place in Etruscan life, as we fi nd wine vessels painted on the
walls of tombs, left as offerings at sanctuaries, and packed in tombs for the deceased to
use in the Afterlife.^50 It is hard to deny the importance of this liquid. It most certainly
was the drink of choice and was a fundamental contributor to Etruscan economics and
agriculture. Images of wine in Etruscan art are too numerous to count. Simply put, no
other food or beverage held such an important place in Etruscan culture.