- Simona Rafanelli –
opposed echinus and abacus” reconstructed through the recovery of an inverted ashlar
block to form a “monumental molded altar,” variously interpreted as a cult structure or
an offering table to hold bronze votives, by virtue of the presence of holes in the fl at upper
surface of the top element, expands the “hourglass” type of altar widely documented in
iconographic representations (Fig. 28.2).^17
In the extremely varied typological framework of Etruscan altars documented between
the Archaic and Late Hellenistic periods,^18 the variety of altar is determined mainly by
the different combinations of a traditionally circular/rectangular plan, either a Greek
“T-shaped” or a Greek “in antis” plan, with rectilinear superstructure or articulated in
the peculiar shape of a pair of chiastically recurved moldings of Etruscan inspiration. A
special mention, for the ritual implications inherent in the structure, is due to the type
of altar in the version with antae, with a U-shaped abacus on the top, recognized in the
altar described in the ritual text of the Tabulae Iguvinae, where the term ereçlo designates
the protected space prepared to receive the sacrifi cial fi re for the cooking of the meats
butchered on the surface of the abacus.^19 The actual examples of this type, admirably
represented by the altars of the Sanctuary of the Thirteen Altars of Lavinium and by
the two altars of the Sacred Area of S. Omobono at Rome,^20 seem to be recognized, in
the Etruscan sphere, in the foundations of the altars with antae of the sanctuaries of
Veii-Portonaccio and S. Marinella-Punta della Vipera, and perhaps in the small rural
sanctuary of Grasceta dei Cavallari in the Monti della Tolfa and, in a funerary context, in
the vicinity of the Tumulus of the Cuccumella at Vulci.^21
In the sanctuary of Campo della Fiera, an altar for sacrifi ces has been identifi ed with a
monolithic altar with square base, inverted echinus, and fascia with cavetto and abacus^22
comparable to type c2 of the crowning molding of the cube-tombs (tombe a dado) of
Sovana^23 and, among representational examples, with the low altar toward which a
Figure 28.2 Mirror in bronze. Florence, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, inv. n. 646. From Praeneste.
End of sixth century bc (after Rafanelli 2004, 153, no. 127)