- chapter 19: Etruscan goods in the Mediterranean world –
The eastern Mediterranean provides inscriptions from the Archaic period which show
the movements of Etruscans. In the panhellenic sanctuaries, in which there are numerous
Etruscan bronzes, the inscriptions left by the Etruscans are written in Greek, as at Delphi
on the base for a tripod dating to the beginning of the fi fth century.^107 From the same
site, an effaced inscription, a sort of palimpsest, is no longer deemed to be Etruscan.^108
In the harbor sanctuaries, where offerings of bucchero vases are well attested, Etruscan
inscriptions also appear.^109 In the eastern Mediterranean, bucchero kantharoi deposited in
sanctuaries in the city of Corinth might have been marked with an ‘A’ as a commercial
sign, or it may have been an acronym for aisar, “the gods.” At the seamen’s shrine of Hera
on the promontory of Perachora opposite Corinth, the inscription on a bucchero kantharos
states in Greek that “Nearchos anetheke” (“Nearchos has dedicated”), and a bucchero sherd
deposited at the Athenaion at Ialysos (Rhodes) is also a dedication in Greek, showing
some close connection between Greeks and Etruscans.^110
In the Maghreb, Carthage brought to light an exceptional document, a tessera hospitalis,
inscribed on an ivory plaque, which commemorated the burial of a Punic man at Carthage
who probably made diplomatic excursions to Etruria over the course of the second half
of the sixth century.^111
The north-western Mediterranean has furnished the richest collection of inscriptions,
marks and Etruscan signs gathered outside of Etruria, once again excluding Aléria, which
is located on the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea on the route to Gaul (see Chapter 13).
We count in southern France a small number of inscriptions defi nitely transported from
Etruria, copious evidence for inscriptions probably written in situ, and several Etruscan
wares containing graffi ti which certainly could have been incised in situ.
The fi rst category – inscriptions done in Etruria – pertains to inscribed amphorae
that were discovered in shipwrecks and settlements such as Saint-Blaise, inscriptions
which were commercial in nature. In this category we might also include vases that were
marked prior to fi ring – primarily small jars, ollette – inscribed with a letter or sign on the
internal rim of the pouring spout: in Etruria this is generally understood to mark mass-
produced vases. An exceptional item in this category is the griffi n from a bronze tripod
from Empúries, which was inscribed with the letters CAR before casting, as is the case
with other votive bronzes from Etruria (Fig. 17.7).
The category of inscriptions certainly rendered outside of Etruria contains two
remarkable documents. The older is a fragment of a Massaliot amphora shoulder (end of
the sixth century) discovered at Marseille in the Collège Vieux Port construction site. In
truth, this container bears a truncated Etruscan inscription, of which several large and
well-incised characters remain (Fig. 17.4). The second document is the lead sheet from
Pech Maho (Sigean, Aude), which bears an Etruscan inscription upon one side, incised at
the beginning of the fi fth century, mentioning Matalia (Massalia, Marseille) (Fig. 17.6).
On the other side of the sheet an older commercial letter had been written in Greek. The
Etruscan inscription presents lexical variants deemed appropriate for a “commercial” or
“colonial” style.^112
The fi nal category contains numerous inscriptions, letters and signs identifi ed on
Etruscan vases. These are graffi ti incised after fi ring, although we cannot tell if they were
executed after transport. However, a number of interlocking and likely factors strongly
suggest that these inscriptions were rendered at their site of discovery. They appear
exclusively on mass-produced vases deemed disposable after use, and we do not know of
a single example of an Etruscan inscribed vase from the funerary or votive assemblages.