- c h a p t e r 5 : The Vi 11 an ov an culture
To one figure of a warrior were attributed all the powers of command, as he was buried
with a special cremation ritual and with his ashes collected in a precious ossuary of bronze
covered with a helmet and protected by a shield with anthropomorphic significance
(Quattro Fontanili, tomb AA 1). His death must be dated to the decades after the middle
of the eighth century BC (Fig. 5.12), recalling the death of a king well known for his
merit in religious institutions, just as tradition refers to the second king of Rome, Numa
Pompilius.
In tomb 1036 of the Veii necropolis of Casal del Fosso, excavated in 19 15 but restored
only in 2001, the deceased was covered by two bilobate shields; the rest of his armour
consists of a crested helmet, a cuirass composed of two discs of sheet-bronze, two swords,
a spear and a chariot symbolized by a pair of bronze horse-bits. The burial was completed
by a scepter, a mace, and two bronze vases imported from the Danube region. (Fig. 5.13).
Armour composed of a cuirass, double shields, sword and spear appears commonly in
Latial tombs of the tenth century BC, in a time when formal burials are the prerogative
of the heads of villages with a more or less family character. The use of this type of
AFigure 5.12 Tomb AAI of the Veian necropolis of Quattro Fontanili
(after Notizie degli Scavi 1970. pp. 292-308).A- -BB1m.500iSOcms.COPEBCHIO2 2(^22)