Jan 8 The Etruscans Part 1 PDF

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Summary

Professor Jennifer P. Moore...

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Region ○ Etruria ○ 1000/900 BCE to 200 BCE ○ 200 BCE - the last political entity of Etruria ○ Culture wasn’t wiped out when the Romans took over ○ Southern border is the Tiber river where Rome is on the other side ○ Core part goes north to the Po river (furthest extent) ○ Also settled in other parts of Italy - Campania ■ Actually skipped Latium region and went directly to the south ○ Written testimony from Greek sources ■ Belief that Etruscans were not indigenous to Italy and were from the eastern end of the Mediterranean ■ Archaeology evidence does not agree with these claims and indicates they were actually indigenous (material and genetic evidence) ■ Or at least there since the Neolithic period if not indigenous yet still thousands of years ○ First millennium BCE is where cultural groups start to look different from one another Etruria ○ Made up of 12 city states ○ No actual country - just a name that Greeks gave them since they all spoke the same language and worshipped many of the same gods ○ 200 BCE - Rome conquered the independent states but not gone to war as an entity ○ The independent city states have different cultures from one another ■ Produce different artifacts, different styles etc Etruscan archaeology ○ Villanovan period: 900-720 BCE ○ Etruscan (historical) period: 720-200 BCE ■ Subdivision within this period ○ By 200 BCE, Rome had annexed all of Etruria and Etruscan culture had mostly (but not entirely) been subsumed by Roman culture ○ Over 100 years ago, Italy assumed there was a difference between the people from 900-720 BCE and the Etruscan period when in fact it was the same people ○ Break that indicated “two” different people Villanovan period ○ Characteristic pottery - impasto ■ Course, unrefined clay ● Impurities are still in the clay (pebbles) ■ Hand-made wares (not wheel made) ■ Typical colour: brown to dark brown ■ Sometimes incised with geometric decoration ● Either before or after firing the pottery ● Sharp object scratched into the sides, most often geometric

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Not a lot of skills to make the pots Each household was expected to make the ports for their everyday lives Close knit network of groups of huts ■ Not very far apart, low levels of population ○ Don’t bury the dead where they live ■ Cemeteries are in a different location and lots of access to cemeteries compared to their living quarters ■ Skewed perception - what they took to the grave and death but not what their lives were like Veii - settlement vs necropolis ○ Most of the villages were located on plateaus rather than low lying valleys (are exceptions) ○ Cemeteries were located off the plateau, away from the villages - always consistent no matter where in Etruria you go ○ 100-200 people on one plateau, divided into different villages in general ○ 9th cen - subsistence was the main concern ■ Not a lot of time of specialization or free time works ■ Made only what was needed ■ Practicing agriculture - beans, barley, bread wheat ■ Raised livestock - pigs, sheep, cattle ■ Took advantage of other natural resources - coast (fish) Typical villanovan burial ○ Pozzo grave ○ Cremation burial in a pit ○ Steps ■ Cremate and put into an ossuary ■ Ossuary into a pit in the ground ● Pozzo grave - typical ■ Shape of a well with the urn inside with lid ■ Grave goods around it ■ Covered with rocks ● Mounded above ground as a grave marker for those coming to the cemetery Villanovan biconical cremation urns (impasto) ○ Formed into a specific shape - biconical ■ Two cones on top of one another ■ Thinner at the top and bottom and thicker in the middle ■ One handle - horizontal and at the widest part of the body ○ Engraved decoration - geometrical shapes or sometimes figural decorations ○ Was covered - basic dish lid or a helmet like covering (bronze or impasto, less common to find) Villanovan hut urns ○ Impasto ○ Curved walls with ‘windows”, a decorated roof (peaked) with timbers crossing at

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the top ○ Traces of paint in geometric decoration ○ Possibly what an actual hut looked like - smaller recreation ○ Bone is not ground up during cremation Reconstruction of huts in Etruria and at Rome ○ Remains found at Villanovan sites and contemporary sites in Latium (Rome) ○ Made of perishable materials - decayed over time ○ Posts can leave visually distinct moulds in the ground that define the exterior and interior of the huts ■ Indicate the shape of the hut ■ Looks similar to the hut impasto urns ○ Mud walls, thatched roofs supported by wooden posts ○ Geometric designs on the mud walls - exterior Typical contents of a Villanovan pozzo grave - 9th cen BCE ○ Urn lid ○ Biconical urn ○ Drinking cup ○ Askos - portable vessel with a narrow spout for pouring ○ Fibula - pin or broach to fasten clothing ○ Yet each grave is different, small amount of objects ○ Buried with liquid provisions, unsure about food (as it would have decayed) ○ Everything is made from impasto - largely responsible for themselves in the house 8th cen BCE burials ○ Important Greek geometric vases ○ Larger assemblages - more items going into the grave ○ Wider range of objects - locally made or imported ○ Evidence for greater specialization in crafts ○ Locally made goods ■ Biconical urn, drinking cups ○ Imported ■ Greek vases, geometric design ■ Before they sent colonies over to Italy so actual trade between Greece and Eturia ○ Bronze objects ■ Weaponry ■ Chains ■ Razors ■ Jewelry - more ornate ○ Economic upheaval with specialization occurring ■ There is now more time in their lives to make these items ○ Increasing social stratification ■ Some graves have items that were not in 9th cen BCE graves ■ Trade goods - economic prosperity

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Southern Etruria ○ These sites are more closer to Rome ○ Caere, Tarquinii, Veii, Vulci ○ Population growth in these same areas ○...