- chapter 28: Etruscan religious rituals –
25 Stopponi 2011: 21, Fig. 13.
26 Roncalli 1994, pl. VII, pp. 103–108.
27 Rafanelli 2004, III.G.2.297.
28 Colonna 1986: 102, 129. Sometimes built elevated or excavated entirely in the earth, the
“perforated” (forati) altars could be associated with the altar-bomos completing complementary
cults – burnt sacrifi ce and libation – as proven by the case of the emporium-sanctuary of
Pyrgi, area “C” (Rafanelli 2004, III.G.2.298; Comella 2005: 166–169, IV.B.13), dedicated
to a chthonic Tinia (Thuillier 1991, op.cit. supra note 18), and of the Veian sanctuary of the
Portonaccio, with a sacred area dedicated to Menerva (Rafanelli 2004, III.G.2.299; Comella
2005: 166–169, IV.B.12). Cf. also the Caeretan sanctuary of Santa Marinella – Punta della
Vipera: Comella 2005: 166–169, IV.B.17.
29 Festo, 318 L.
30 Gellio, 7, 12, 5.
31 Colonna 1985: 23.
32 Rafanelli 2004, III.D.2.a; III.G.2.295.
33 See Yavis, G., Greek Altars [1949] 43) for the Greek world. In the Etruscan world, the terms
remain unknown that designated the various types of altars equivalent to the Greek terms of
bomos (constructed altar), eschara (sacrifi cial trench), bothros (sacrifi cial well). The only exegetical
hypothesis in this sense has been formulated for the term spanti (“plate”: cf. LL: spanza, “small
spanti”), interpreted by extension as the fl oor-area of the altar, based on comparison with
the Umbrian ritual texts of the Tabulae Iguvinae (Castagnoli 1959–1960, op. cit. supra note
19; Colonna 1973–74: 132 ff.). The terms spanthi/spante, recurring in the Tabula Cortonensis
(Agostiniani/Nicosia 2000) where they are translated as “in the fl oor/plain,” have permitted
us to hypothesize the existence of a term *span, plain, from which spanti (“plate”) would have
been derived. The great antiquity of the term in Etruria and its deep roots in the structures
of the Etruscan language would seem to exclude the hypothesis of an origin in the Umbrian
language.
34 One seems to detect in the Hellenistic period a greater occurrence of canals/conduits in the
sanctuary areas in contrast to funerary spaces: cf. the terracotta pipes in the sanctuary on the
Volterran acropolis (for which see Bonamici 2005, 4–5).
35 Bagnasco Gianni 2005: 91, 95 ff.
36 Colonna 2006: 140, where the scholar defi nes the altars of the sacellum “γ” (cf. Comella 2005:
166–169, IV.B.15) as the simplifi ed version of the mensae for libations and bloodless offerings
intended for the domestic and funerary cult of the ancestors and offers in comparison, among
other examples, the funerary altars found in the Caeretan tombs Campana 1 and Tomb of
the Five Chairs and some stone blocks from the region of Orvieto. Found inside the tomb
structures, the altars, so-called “a cuppelle” (“with hollowed cups”) and “a trono” (“throne-
type”), distributed through the valley of the Fiora and the region of Volsinii, represent a
particular type of altar reserved for the funerary cult (Bloch 1955: 64–70), used near or
within the burial place. These altars, of Archaic date, are found in the form of a simple slab,
furnished with cup-like cavities and with little channels in the top surface, or in the form
of a block hollowed across the front and top (Rafanelli 2004, III.G.2.301), associated with a
second block placed vertically which gives it the shape of a throne. On the other hand, the
Hellenistic so-called “pierced” (“forati”) altars of the Volsinian territory (two at Bolsena of
which one is lost: cf. Rafanelli 2004, III.G.2.300; two at Orvieto; one at Bagnoregio; see
also Comella 2005: 166–169, IV.B.18–20) constitute in this context a peculiar class: they
are small monuments in tufo, nenfro or peperino, a truncated-conical or truncated-pyramidal
block crossed vertically by a channel, originally placed in the open in modest sacred areas.
The presence of a dedicatory inscription (TLE 205) allows them to be connected with a
catachthonic cult directed especially to Tinia, in his underworld-funerary aspect, but also to
Culsu.