Etruscan Rock-cut Chamber Tombs

Etruscan Rock-cut Tombs: Origins, Characteristics,
Local and Foreign Elements
Stephan Steingräber
This very modest ‘alpnu’ in honour of Sybille Haynes’ 80th
birthday seeks to emphasize the importance of a unique
phenomenon – the rock tombs – that characterize the inner
part of Southern Etruria, today called Tuscia.
To begin: two completely different quotations concerning
the area of Etruscan rock tombs:
It is a spot which should not fail to be visited by everyone who feels
interest in the antiquities of early Italy (Dennis 1848, 244, on
Norchia).
Uno dei territori più singolari e suggestivi dell’Italia centrale è
senza dubbio la zona delle necropoli rupestri dell’Etruria
meridionale interna. L’incontro fra l’opera umana, con le sue forme
evocatrici ed i suoi tagli a volte immani, e la materia naturale cosi
lavorata; il fascino selvaggio dei luoghi, ancora in parte (ma per
quanto?) vergini, e il contrasto cromatico tra la vegetazione e i
rossi vivi e i grigi caldi del tufo; l’impressione di fantastici miraggi
di città del passato che sembrano sorgere tra le macchie
dall’addensarsi delle sagome delle tombe intagliate: tutto questo
rappresenta una delle più tipiche manifestazioni di simbiosi fra
archeologia e paesaggio, che si conoscono nella nostra penisola
(Pallottino 1970, 9).
One of the most unusual and picturesque regions of central Italy is
without doubt the zone of the rock necropoleis of inland southern
Etruria. The meeting of human work – with its evocative forms and
its sometimes huge gouges – and the natural material thus worked;
the wild fascination of the places, still (but for how long?) partly
virgin; and the chromatic contrast between the vegetation and the
vivid reds and warm greys of the tufa; the impression of fantastic
mirages of the ancient cities which seem to rise up among the
macchia from the thickening shapes of the carved tombs: all this
represents one of the most typical manifestations of symbiosis
between archaeology and landscape that is known on our
peninsula.
The so-called rock tombs in the southern Etruscan inland
zone constitute undoubtedly one of the most characteristic and
impressive groups of Etruscan architecture for which there is
no parallel in Italy in quantity, monumentality, or variety of
types. On the other hand, the phenomenon of rock tomb
architecture was also common in several other cultural areas
of the Mediterranean, especially in south-west Asia Minor.
The geographical and geological situation is, of course, the
fundamental precondition for the origin of rock-cut tombs.
Normally they occur in landscapes of volcanic origin with deep
ravines and steep cliffs, as is the case in the hinterland of
southern Etruria (mainly the Province of Viterbo), with its
pastoral landscape, its distinctive reddish volcanic tufa stone,
its deep canyon-like valleys, its high plateaux with mostly
naturally defended settlements, and its several crater lakes.
The distribution of rock tombs extends from the eastern edges
of the Tolfa mountains around Stigliano in the south, to southwestern Tuscany around Sovana in the north, with the main
centres in Blera, San Giuliano, Tuscania, Norchia, Castel d’Asso
and Sovana. There are also rock-cut tombs in the Faliscan area
and – a really exceptional case – in Populonia (Necropoli delle
Grotte) where a former quarry was reused as a necropolis.
64 | Etruscan by Definition
The beginnings of southern Etruscan rock-cut tomb
architecture go back to the second quarter of the 6th century
bc, while the most recent examples date from the 3rd or early
2nd century bc. This phenomenon reached its zenith in the
later Archaic and early Hellenistic periods. During the first
flourishing, the most numerous and interesting rock tombs
were situated more in the south around Blera and San
Giuliano, an area that belonged to the sphere of political
influence of Cerveteri, and in Tuscania, which was part of the
hinterland of Tarquinia. The most important rock tombs of the
second high point can be found more to the north, at Norchia,
Castel d’Asso, and Sovana, in the areas of influence,
respectively, of Tarquinia and Vulci.
Chronologically one can divide research into southern
Etruscan rock-cut tombs into three main periods:
1. 19th century: Dennis; Canina; Orioli; Labrouste and Lenoir.
2. Between the First and Second World Wars: Koch, von
Mercklin and Weickert (Blera); Bianchi Bandinelli
(Sovana); Gargana (San Giuliano) and Rosi.
3. Since the 1960s: Swedish King Gustav VI Adolf (San
Giovenale and Luni sul Mignone); G. and E. Colonna
(Castel d’Asso and Norchia); Quilici (Blera and Tuscania);
Maggiani (Sovana); Sgubini Moretti (Tuscania); general
discussion by Oleson; Romanelli; and Steingräber.
One can divide the southern Etruscan rock tombs into several
types and variants according to geographic distribution,
chronology, and size. The spectrum ranges from simple
chambers, loculi and niches cut into the tufa rock, without
elaborate facades, to very splendid temple-shaped rock
monuments. The so-called tomba a dado (cube tomb) is the
most common type from the Archaic to the Hellenistic period.
Among the other types to be discussed are the house tomb (6th
to 3rd century), the Archaic portico tomb (second half of 6th
century, only in San Giuliano), the Hellenistic temple and
portico tomb (Norchia and Sovana), the Hellenistic aedicula
tomb (mainly Sovana) and the Hellenistic tholos tomb (only
Sovana).
In general one can say that the main emphasis in rock tomb
architecture was on the outward appearance, that is on the
monument and the façade and not so much on the tomb
chamber and the burial gifts. Only in very few cases were the
walls of the tomb chambers painted (two examples in Blera) or
distinguished by coffered ceilings (as in Sovana). During the
development of Etruscan rock-cut tomb architecture the façade
gained in importance at the expense of the tomb chamber or
burial, which from the 4th century was transferred to beneath
the façade and was worked less precisely. The tomb façades –
or their details, at least – were originally stuccoed and painted,
with inscriptions relatively rare (they are found at Castel d’Asso
(Colonna di Paolo and Colonna 1970). One of the most
characteristic elements – especially of the cube tombs – is the
Etruscan Rock-cut Tombs
Figure 1 Blera, Necropoli Pian del Vescovo: archaic
house shaped tomb. Photo: the author
so-called porta dorica, which in the 6th and 5th century still
forms the real entrance to the tomb chamber. During the 4th
century it becomes a mere false door, obviously with a symbolic
significance. Some elements of the rock tombs, such as the
platforms with mouldings and lateral stairs on cube tombs,
served mainly for the purposes of the cult of the dead. These
platforms are formally and functionally comparable to altars
and could serve also for cippi of different types and sizes. The
so-called sottofacciata rooms, with roofs and stone benches in
front of the façades of several Hellenistic cube tombs in
Norchia and Castel d’Asso, were most probably intended for
funeral banquets. In this context we can also cite the upper
façade of the Early Hellenistic Tomba Torlonia at Cerveteri
(Colonna 1986, 523).
Among the different tomb types and their decorations we
find both local Etruscan and foreign innovative elements. The
cube tomb, with its several variants, the house tomb and the
Archaic portico tomb of San Giuliano are characteristic
Etruscan types. As Colonna proposed, the cube tombs – partly
carved and partly built – of the necropoleis at Cerveteri (which
replaced the smaller so-called façade-tumuli during the second
quarter and the middle of the 6th century) most probably
served as models for the rock-cut cube tombs in the southern
Etruscan hinterland (Colonna 1986, 447). On the other hand,
the monumental and expensive temple and portico tombs of
the Hellenistic period are inconceivable without foreign
models and influences (tombe doriche and the Tomba Lattanzi
at Norchia; the Tomba Ildebranda and the Tomba Pola at
Sovana). In their general conception and ideology they
primarily recall the mausoleum and heroon tradition in Asia
Minor (Oleson 1982, 63–6, 88–96), whilst for the details of the
rich decoration and reliefs we can recognize prototypes
particularly in southern Italy and Apulia (the scroll and vegetal
friezes and figured capitals). Other forms of relief decoration
on façades are found on the following: Tomba di Tre Teste and
Tomba del Caronte at Norchia; Tomba della Maschera at San
Giuliano; tombe doriche at Norchia (pediments with relief
sculptures, back wall with relief frieze); Tomba Lattanzi at
Norchia and Tomba Ildebranda at Sovana with relief friezes
(and according to Maggiani’s reconstruction with three
pediments: Steingräber 1996, 94). Of special interest is the
originally painted relief frieze on the back wall behind the
former portico of the Tombe doriche in Norchia which shows a
procession with dignitaries and winged demons, which
compares well with the iconography of the painted scene on
the right wall of the Tomba del Tifone in Tarquinia, as well as
elements of a weapon frieze comparable to the wall paintings
of the Tomba Giglioli in Tarquinia and other tomb paintings in
Figure 2 San Giuliano, Necropoli del Caiolo: archaic
portico tombs. Photo: the author
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Steingräber
Figure 3 Norchia, Necropoli delle Pile: hellenistic cube tomb with sottofacciata
(Tomba prostila). Photo: the author
southern Italy (at Paestum and Egnazia), Macedonia and
Thrace (Steingräber 2006a, 253–4). In addition we know of a
series of head protomes in stone whose original architectural
context unfortunately we cannot reconstruct (Steingräber
2006b).
The topographical arrangement and organization of the
larger rock tomb necropoleis were not accidental but an
expression of an intentional, rational use of space and of new
urbanistic tendencies. The rock-cut tombs are often arranged
in rows side by side and on terraces one above the other,
connected by paths and stairs. They are concentrated
particularly in the areas along the main entry and exit roads of
the ancient city, or are situated around rectangular squares.
Similar, well-known, tendencies are reflected in the
rectangular system of cube tomb streets in the necropoleis of
Cerveteri (Banditaccia) and Orvieto (Crocefisso del Tufo)
(Colonna 1986, 447–8), which date mainly from the second half
of the 6th century and precede chronologically the famous
‘Hippodamean’ street system of the north Etruscan town of
Marzabotto. They can also be interpreted as a reflection of a
stronger social levelling, of a more widespread prosperity, and
perhaps also of a limit to sepulchral luxury.
Only a limited number of types of rock-cut tomb, ground
plans, and details are borrowed from Etruscan house
architecture: e.g. the house-shaped type, the ground plan of
the transverse house with two or three rooms side by side
(types D and E according to Prayon 1975, 23–8), or individual
elements, such as the saddle roof or beds (klinai). Generally
the discrepancy between tomb and house architecture
becomes still more obvious in the later rock-cut tombs of the
Hellenistic period. Influences from palace architecture
(portico tomb of Pian di Mola at Tuscania: Sgubini Moretti
1986; 1989; 1991) and temple architecture (pediments of temple
and aedicula tombs, and the ground plan of the Tomba
Ildebranda at Sovana, peripteros sine postico), are also
documented.
From the beginning, the phenomenon of southern Etruscan
rock tomb architecture certainly was not simply determined by
geological factors, but was intended to achieve scenographic
and prestigious effect. This fact is reflected not least by the
common, intentional, orientation of the tomb façades towards
the city, to establish a permanent visual contact between the
area of the living and the area of the dead. In the earliest rockcut tomb architecture, the façade was given particular
emphasis, but the relationship between the exterior
architecture and the tomb chamber was still appropriate and
functional, whereas from the 4th century bc this relationship
completely changed in favour of a pure and often very costly
false architectural façade, which neglected the subterranean,
hidden, tomb chamber. Here we can observe a marked
difference from the highly elaborate and decorated, partly
contemporaneous, tomb chambers of Cerveteri (e.g. the Tomba
dei Rilievi: Steingräber 2006a, 262–3) and Tarquinia (e.g. the
Tomba Cardinale: Steingräber 2006a, 257–8). Obviously the
owners of these tombs – undoubtedly belonging to the social
Figure 4 Norchia, Necropoli delle Pile: hellenistic
cube tomb. Photo: the author
66 | Etruscan by Definition
Etruscan Rock-cut Tombs
Figure 5 Sovana, Tomba Ildebranda
(hellenistic temple tomb): detail of the left
pediment. Photo: the author
élite and representing a kind of landed gentry – wanted to
stand out in the public eye and remain permanently in the
minds of their contemporaries and descendants. Therefore the
ideology of most of these tomb monuments expresses not only
material prosperity and a need for admiration, but also a
certain pretentiousness. This kind of ideology also reminds us
of certain aspects of Roman tomb monuments, often erected in
very prestigious positions along the main entry and exit roads
around the towns.
A rock-cut tomb area on the western slope of Pian di Mola
in Tuscania is of particular interest concerning the origins of
Archaic Etruscan rock tomb architecture. It was excavated and
restored in the late 1980s and early 1990s and published in brief
articles by Sgubini Moretti and by the present author
(Steingräber 1996, 84–90). In the centre of the area there is a
large house tomb with both the front and rear façades carved
almost entirely into the tufa. The portico in front with four
Tuscan columns was mostly constructed from blocks and slabs
of tufa and peperino in different colours with polychrome
effect. The quality of the stone masonry is excellent. The tomb
includes three chambers side by side. Fragments of Etruscan
and Greek ceramics, faïence, and a bronze lion statuette found
in the tomb testify to its use from the second quarter until the
end of the 6th century, that is, for three generations. The main
characteristic elements are the:
• house-shape: documented in rock-cut tombs of Tuscania
and Blera and also in urns and cippi;
• ground plan: corresponding to Prayon’s type D in Caeretan
tomb architecture; documented also in house and palace
architecture (Murlo, Acquarossa, Rome) and in sacred
architecture (the templum tuscanicum);
• lateral staircase to the portico roof: often documented in
case of cube and sometimes aedicula tombs;
• sculptures on the columen: typical of Etruscan architecture
(e.g. the palace of Murlo and the Portonaccio temple in
Veii); comparable funerary stone sculptures are
documented especially in Vulci;
• cippi: omphalos-shaped and house-shaped;
• disc-shaped akroteria: documented in urns and also cippi;
• moulded Tuscan column bases: documented in the house
architecture of Acquarossa and in tomb architecture in the
Caeretan and Faliscan areas (Steingräber 1996, 88);
• porta dorica: one real and two false doors in the façade;
well documented specially in Caeretan tomb architecture;
• interior architecture: a beamed ceiling, saddle roof with
columen and kline: clear influences from Caeretan tomb
architecture.
The house-shaped portico tomb at Tuscania generally
belongs with the earliest rock-cut tombs in the Mediterranean
area. Older rock-cut tombs or rock-cut monuments, for
example those in Urartu and Phrygia, cannot be considered
prototypes for typological reasons. The oldest carved portico
tombs outside Etruria, such as those in Persia, Cyrenaica
(Barka) and Paphlagonia, have to be dated at least several
decades later. Definitely later, too, are the oldest house tombs
of Lycia, which are also not typologically similar to the
Etruscan examples. Still later are the Lycian and Carian temple
tombs. Therefore, we have to assume that our monumental
Figure 6 Oriolo, Loc. Fontiloro: rock
monument, perhaps with altar function.
Photo: the author
Etruscan by Definition | 67
Steingräber
rock-cut tomb in Tuscania, the identity of whose owning
aristocratic family is unfortunately unknown to us, was
influenced mainly by local Etruscan house and palace
architecture and not so much by foreign models.
We must also question whether the phenomenon of rockcut tombs, which had been deeply rooted in some parts of Asia
Minor since early times, may have given some impulse to the
genesis of Etruscan rock tomb architecture, not so much in
specific typology but in a more general conceptual way.
Support for this hypothesis may be provided by the fact that the
oldest Etruscan rock-cut tombs of the second quarter of the 6th
century were not the result of a long local development, but
appeared suddenly, already in a completely developed and
monumentalized form.
The southern Etruscan rock-cut tomb area is also
characterized by numerous other stone monuments, situated
mostly in necropoleis and related to the cult of the dead.
Among them we find altars, stepped monuments, tables and
sacrificial slabs, thrones and cippi, and, last but not least, the
peaks of tumuli and rock cube tombs, which were accessible by
ramps or stairs. One of the most interesting and unusual
monuments of this group is the rectangular base with two rows
of monumental obelisk-shaped cippi beside the Cima Tumulus
in San Giuliano (according to Colonna an ‘area cultuale
all’aperto’ (open cult area) which I have already discussed
elsewhere (Steingräber 2009).
The tradition of rock-cut tombs and rock-cut architecture
also continued into Roman and Early Christian times as is
shown by the many columbaria, the unique amphitheatre of
Sutri and by several rock-cut churches.
‘Investing in the Afterlife’ was one of the main messages
transmitted by Etruscan rock-cut tombs, but it was not the only
motive. Bearing witness to the owners’ grandeur and social
importance before their descendants was another.
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