- chapter 28: Etruscan religious rituals –
THE BLOODY OFFERING: THE ANIMAL VICTIMS,
THE GODS, THE PURPOSES OF SACRIFICEThe detailed analysis of necropolis contexts, among which those of Pontecagnano and
of Verucchio,^45 have in recent times permitted us to deepen the meaning and content
of a second major category of archaeological evidence, represented by abundant fi nds of
bones furnished by cult areas which, in the reconstruction of ceremonial behavior, serve
to accompany and support the evidence of the altars, and more generally, of the structures
designed for the performance of ritual activities. Passing over the vast fi eld of evidence
furnished by the innumerable, mold-made offerings that are distinctly north-Etruscan
or Etruscan-Latin-Campanian that comprise the deposits of ex-votos, predominantly of
bronze in the fi rst group, and of terracotta in the latter, which have become the subjects
of thematic studies^46 and of individual in-depth contributions like that of Jean Turfa,^47
I wish to concentrate on that which Ingrid Edlund-Berry has defi ned as one of “the two
most important ritual activities,”^48 represented by a particular meaning of offering to the
gods, conceived as the offering of the fl esh and organs of the animal victim, inseparably
associated with the libation of the blood of the sacrifi ced animal and of non-bloody liquids
derived from the vegetable and animal world (wine, cereals, milk, etc.)
The contribution of new data acquired from the analysis of offerings derived from the
vegetable and animal kingdoms has formed the subject of an important study-meeting
held in Tarquinia in 2003,^49 specifi cally of accurate observation of the bone remains and
the remains of non-bloody offerings found in the sanctuary areas of Pyrgi,^50 Tarquinia,^51
Poggio Colla,^52 Cetamura del Chianti,^53 Campo della Fiera^54 and from funerary contexts at
Pontecagnano^55 and Verucchio.^56 These studies complement the extensive and increasing
masses of data collected by Luigi Donati under the heading of “Sacrifi ce in the Etruscan
World,”^57 which already included in preliminary notice, some of the data provided by
excavations carried out in the Sanctuaries of the Acropolis of Volterra^58 and of Ortaglia,
in Volterran territory.^59
Among the most important results of these analyses, there is the apparent confi rmation
of the presence, in the context of bloody sacrifi cial offerings, of some peculiar species, such
as tortoises, edible and non-edible fi sh, molluscs, birds, foxes, badgers, etc...alongside
categories of domestic and wild animals that are well represented, such as cattle, pigs,
sheep/goats, deer, dogs, horses.
It appears diffi cult to understand the identity of the deities worshipped in a specifi c
sacred area (sanctuary or funerary), beginning with an analysis of the osteological fi nds
recovered there, both for the still elusive contours of the various divine personages of the
Etrusco-Italic pantheon and for the hybrid nature of these, sometimes agglutinating and
taking on the attributes, appearance or spheres of action of multiple divinities that seem
more traditionally distinct within the better known Greek pantheon, or on the contrary
replicated in an unknown number of different cultic hypostases.^60 Nevertheless, the
repeated occurrence of the same species of animal victim in similar ritual contexts, or the
evident repetition of the same ritualized modalities of killing the animal, or any correlation
with specifi c types of cult structures^61 permit us to make some inferences primarily on the
nature of the cult practice in the sacred area, whether celestial or underworld/chthonic.
The largest portion of an ox, sacrifi ced and deposited in a single act, as distinct from that
of deposition in jars fi lled with remains of plants and animals of other species, in the so-
called “repeated deposit” of the Civita site at Tarquinia,^62 ultimately underscores the value of