- chapter 41: Princely chariots and carts –
Figure 41.5 Fragment from the original wooden chassis of the fast chariot from Vulci (see Fig. 41.8).
There are holes for the woven tongs of the fl oor and remains of leather fastened with nails of bronze.
From Emiliozzi 1997, pl. V,1. Photograph E. Bianchi.The sides of the vehicle were formed mainly from light wooden railings, located in
front and along the sides, obtained by bending young branches of appropriate timber
species, that functioned as parapets and constituted a fi rm grip for movements of entry or
dismounting and for balance while maneuvering in the chariot. Around the middle and
lower parts of the railings was stretched a covering of leather, that closed the cockpit of
the vehicle on three sides. The box was always balanced on the axle and in it two persons
could stand one behind the other, one person at the front and the other behind the line of
the axle. This method of riding the vehicle depended on the type of harnessing of the two
draft horses, to whom was always attached a neck yoke, in contrast to mainland Greece
where a dorsal yoke was used.^5
Almost all the Etruscan and Italic fast chariots were designed for a team of three
(trigae) or four (quadrigae). The functional devices for the addition of a third and fourth
horse protruded from the upper ends of the front rail and are found in the form of metal
rings or pegs to suspend loops of rawhide, through which would pass the traces of the
outrigger horses,^6 who are thus linked to the body of the chariot.^7
In the most luxurious fast chariots a metallic decoration was applied over the covering
of leather, which was designed to resist the jolting without being damaged. The fi nest
of these examples of the Orientalizing period is the chariot of the Tumulo dei Carri
(Tumulus of the Chariots) at Populonia (Fig. 41.6, 675–650 bc), which is also the only
one where arrowheads were found with it, a sign that it was used also for hunting. The
individual plaques of bronze inlaid with iron that formed the decoration on the box
were affi xed to the rawhide beneath with metal pins and by “seams” to obtain a sort of
mosaic, ready to twist and fl ex at the slightest jolt without risk of damage. The result is a
decorative syntax in superimposed registers (Fig. 41.7). In the upper register appear fi les
of animals including men armed with long spears, presumably hunters; but in the lower