- Stefano Bruni –
which in Archaic times was straight, in the last decades of the fi fth century bc develops
a sinuous profi le and begins to acquire the monumentality that characterizes the naval
architecture of the Hellenistic and Roman periods (see Fig. 40.8). Vessels of the type on
the Bologna stele are the three ships that transfer the Etruscan contingent to Sicily in the
summer of 413 bc (Thuc. 6.103.2).
The appearance of an Etruscan cargo ship offshore, corresponding to the Greek
holkades and the Phoenician gauloi, is offered in the same years by the extraordinary
seascape of the so-called Tomb of the Ship of Tarquinia (Fig. 56.7), where among the
many boats depicted is a great merchant ship. The vessel is in line with Mediterranean
shipbuilding of the era (Fig. 40.9), as is documented by the iconographic repertoire
of the Greek world. If, as is likely, it remains only hypothetical that already at that
time there have been introduced, in place of the archaic practice of sutiles naves (“sewn
ships”) the constructive methods of fastening the shell with harmoniai and gòmphoi,
that is “wedges” and “dowels” (mortise and tenon) the hull, large and roomy, seems
to be equipped with a cutwater at the bow, which makes it suitable for sailing close
to the wind and making way. There are two masts, one mainmast in the center, and
one forward, smaller, to carry the foresail with which it could perform an intricate set
of maneuvers.
Figure 40.8 Etruscan ship, reconstruction by Marco Bonino.