CHAPTER FIFTY ONE

ENGRAVED GEMS

Ulf R. Hansson

T

he technique of engraving harder stones with the aid of a bow-driven drill and cutting-
wheel was introduced in Etruria sometime in the third quarter of the sixth century
bce.^1 The technically highly accomplished early works indicate that local craftsmen
did not acquire the technique gradually from studying imported gems only, but that
they learnt the craft from immigrant gem-engravers who had studied and mastered it
elsewhere, most likely somewhere in the East Greek world, before settling in Etruria.
Etruscan gem-engravers used predominantly semi-precious stones of the chalcedony
family, which have a hardness of 6.5–7 on the Mohs scale. Most popular throughout
production was the red cornelian, which in Etruscan works is remarkably consistent in
color, possibly indicating that the stones came from a single source or that they were
subjected to color manipulation through some form of heat treatment or immersion,
either by the Etruscans themselves or by their stone suppliers.^2 The sources whence the
Etruscans obtained their stones have not been identifi ed, but would most likely have
been found somewhere in the East. In addition to cornelian, Etruscan engravers also used
agates and striped sardonyx, and to a lesser extent jasper of various colors, onyx, and
milky white chalcedony. Softer stones like green serpentine and non-lithic materials such
as amber and bone were sporadically used,^3 and in the later phase colored glass paste was
occasionally used for so-called a globolo scarabs (see below).
The shapes include: (1) the scarab gem, where the engraving of the curved back of the
stone more or less faithfully imitates the anatomical parts of the scarab beetle; (2) the
scaraboid, which retains the overall shape of the scarab gem but with little or no engraving
on the curved backside; and (3) the pseudo-scarab, which has an image carved in relief on
its curved backside instead of a beetle. All three types have a fl at, oval underside which
carries an engraved miniature image (device) within a decorated border which is usually
hatched, but can also be, for example, dotted, cable, zigzag, or just a simple line, as on the
late so-called a globolo scarabs. The device is invariably engraved in intaglio (from the Italian
intagliare, to carve), i.e. the design is carved into the fl at surface of the stone so that a raised
or positive imprint is produced when the surface is pressed into a softer material such as
wax or clay. The cameo technique, where the actual image is carved in relief, was not used
by Etruscan engravers except for some images on the backs of pseudo-scarabs. A limited