- Giovanna Bagnasco Gianni –
According to a similar background, the structures unearthed so far in the different
spots and quadrants within the design of the “monumental complex” seem to assume
different meanings. For example, in the north-east sector, which is the most favorable
according to the Etruscan religion, near the north-east cornerstone of the “monumental
complex,” an outstanding monument was discovered: a well surmounted by an arch,
inserted into a wall (Fig. 29.6).
The well has been dug directly in the bedrock and shows an articulated section. It is
bell-shaped in the upper part, with a diameter at its base of 1.90 m and a height of 2.20
m, whereas it goes straight down in its bottom part with a diameter of 1.2 m. The depth
reached so far is 21.50 m, due to the presence of water, which could be reached thanks to
holes carved at a regular distance in the walls of the well.
The arch on top of the well could be seen only from the north because the wall
in which it is inserted is part of the terrace built to retain the huge amount of clay
forming the pavement in front of the east entrance to the “monumental complex.”
This terrace was built in the second half of the seventh century bc and, if our
researches prove the same chronology for the arch and the wall, the arch is probably
going to be the most ancient found in Etruria so far. On the whole, the architectural
setting has no other comparisons, except for the literary description of the cloaca
maxima in the Rome of Tarquinius Priscus, which nevertheless had another purpose.
The presence of water together with a thick fi lling in the upper part of the well – formed
by large fragments of black glaze, thin-walled and “impasto” pottery often inscribed with
texts and sigla, fragments of a terracotta plaque and stones – show a violent and deliberate
action performed when the well was still in use, in order to obliterate it. The chronology
of the pottery sealing the well indicates that the destruction took place in a short period
of time during the second century bc, to be placed after the chronology suggested by the
stylistic dating of the outstanding terracotta high-relief plaque with a warrior in battle.
The plaque was probably part of a small pediment to be dated between the second half of
the third and the fi rst decade of the^ second century bc^10 (Fig. 29.7). Pediment and pottery
were probably moved from somewhere else in the “monumental complex,” but always
related to cultic practices held in the immediate surroundings.
Figure 29.6 Tarquinia, “monumental complex.” The well, surmounted by the arch. Courtesy of
Università degli Studi di Milano, “Progetto Tarquinia,” archive.