The Etruscan Seated Banquet: Villanovan Ritual and Etruscan IconographyAuthor(s): Anthony S. TuckSource: American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 98, No. 4 (Oct., 1994), pp. 617-628Published by: Archaeological Institute of AmericaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/506549 .Accessed: 10/02/2011 02:55
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The Etruscan Seated Banquet: Villanovan Ritual and Etruscan Iconography
ANTHONY S. TUCK
Abstract The banquet was one of the most popular and con-
sistent funerary motifs in ancient Etruria. The earliest banquet scenes depict people sitting, whereas later representations show banqueters reclining on couches. By examining these primordial seated banquet scenes, we see the representation of an already cogent iconog- raphy. The deceased is either depicted at a meal or ancestor figures are shown welcoming the newly de- ceased to the banquet. The characterization of the de- ceased at a meal is a funerary theme that also finds expression in the earlier tomb groups of the Villano- van period. It is argued here that new foreign artistic models of enthroned figures are adopted and manipu- lated in the Orientalizing period because they could be used to express a preexisting funerary theme of the deceased at a meal.*
The renewal of contact and trade between Etruria and the eastern Mediterranean during the Orien-
talizing period brought new goods and materials
flooding into the region. Craftsmen working in met- al, ceramic, and other materials quickly assimilated
foreign forms and motifs into their own production repertoire. It is within this crucible of social change that Etruscan culture emerged in its fully developed form.
It is important to understand this not only as a revolution, but also an evolution. The exposure to and adoption of various artistic motifs certainly had a profound effect on the material culture of the peo- ple we today categorize as Villanovan, but these are
changes in means and modes of expression. As
Ridgway has put it, "any degree of indigenous eth- nic unity that underlines the Villanovan culture must be attributed to the Etruscans themselves in the Iron Age phase of their development."'1
In the midst of abundant evidence for the impact of eastern contact, however, the effect of any Villanovan "indigenous ethnic unity" on the devel- opment of many Etruscan practices is often over- looked. It is reasonable to assume that many ele- ments of distinctive Villanovan cultural unity would find new means of expression in later Etruscan con- texts. While the form of expression may be new, the cultural continuity between the Villanovan and Etruscan periods is illustrated by the consistency of expressed themes. One element of this cultural con- tinuity may be found in funerary contexts with the thematic expression of the meal of the dead. In or- der to assess the impact of Villanovan ritual on early Etruscan banquet scenes, it is helpful to examine some of the earliest depictions of funerary banquets found in Etruria.
De Marinis has noted that representations of ban- queting in Etruscan art initially show people sitting, while in later representations funerary banquets are depicted with individuals reclining on couches.2 The earliest surviving depiction of such a funerary seated banquet in Etruscan art takes the form of an attached plastic scene found on the lid of a biconical cremation urn known as the Montescudaio urn (figs. 1-2). The urn is generally dated to ca. 650-625 B.C., based on the rendering and style of the hu- man figures and the plastic geometric decoration on the body of the urn, although some scholars place it slightly later.3 It was found just outside the town of Montescudaio, near Volterra, at the beginning of this century. In the scene, a figure is seated on a chair in front of a round tripod table. To the left of the seated figure is a standing female attendant.
* I owe an enormous debt of thanks to many people for their suggestions and support, especially Gloria Pinney, Brunilde Ridgway, and Jean Turfa for their insightful comments and criticisms of an earlier draft of this paper. I am also very grateful to R. Ross Holloway, Rolf Winkes, Martha S. Joukowsky, Erik Nielsen, and Mary P Tuck for their willingness to discuss many problems and suggest revisions. The AJA reviewers, Larissa Bonfante and Rich- ard De Puma, were also extremely helpful in pointing out pertinent issues that I had neglected and suggesting valu- able corrections. Special thanks are owed to Jen Rowley, Tony Kugler, Michael Smith, Michele Kunitz, and Anne
Leinster for their support and friendship. ' D. Ridgway, The First Western Greeks (Cambridge 1992) 127.
2 S. De Marinis, La tipologia del banchetto nell'arte etrusca arcaica (Rome 1961) 114.
3 H.D. Anderson, "The Etruscan Ancestor Cult-Its Origin and Development and the Importance of Anthro- pomorphization," AnalRom 21 (1993) 31; E Magi, "L'os- suario di Montescudaio," Atti del primo simposio italiano (Rome 1969) 127-28 n. 25, suggests a lower date at the end of the seventh or early sixth century B.C.
617 American Journal of Archaeology 98 (1994) 617-28
618 ANTHONY S. TUCK [AJA 98
Across the table is a high footed olla and a scar where another element was attached, either an- other vessel or perhaps a chair for a second ban-
queter.4 A representation of a seated banquet scene
slightly later than the Montescudaio urn comes from the Tomb of the Five Chairs at Cerveteri, dated to the final third of the seventh century on the basis of the form of the rock-carved tomb.5 According to
Prayon's reconstruction, a terracotta figure was
originally placed on each of the five rock-carved thrones in a side chamber of the cruciform tomb
(figs. 3-4). Two stone tables, carved from the rock, were located in front of the chairs. To complete this
arrangement, Prayon further reconstructs a large basket and libation table and a rectangular base that was used for two additional cylindrical thrones.6
Of the five figures, three are male and two are
female, which is interesting since many later repre- sentations of reclining banquets depict women re-
clining with men. Erroneous early reconstructions of the figures placed the two surviving female heads onto two of the three surviving torsos.' The fibula form worn by all three torsos suggests that they be-
long to males.8 All exhibit what Bonfante describes as a "ritual pose."9 The left arm is hidden beneath a cloak or shroud and only the hand is visible. The
right arm extends outward with the palm upturned. The fragmentary seated figure on the Montes- cudaio urn may be reconstructed as gesturing in the same way. Once again, we see this gesture on a late
sixth-century funerary stele from Fiesole with two scenes of banqueting (fig. 5).10 The upper register has a scene of a reclining banquet while the lower scene shows two people sitting at a table with the
figure on the right side extending his right arm with
palm upturned toward the figure on the left side. There are, however, scenes of people sitting and
eating that do not utilize this gesture. On a bucchero chalice from Pienza" decorated with an impression from a cylinder seal as well as some cylinder seal
impressions illustrated by Micali12 we see figures,
Fig. 1. Montescudaio urn, full view. (After E Nicosia, StEtr 37 [1969] pl. XCIIIc)
seated on campstools or chairs, eating and drinking. While the ceramics decorated with these scenes
probably come from tomb contexts, there is no rea- son to assume that they were specifically produced
4 E Nicosia, "I1 cinerario di Montescudaio," StEtr 37 (1969) 389, believes another olla occupied this position; Magi (supra n. 3) 126 believes the position was occupied by a cylindrical throne for another banqueter.
5 E Prayon, "Zur Datierung der drei friuhetruskischen Sitzstatuetten aus Cerveteri," RM 82 (1975) 166.
6 Prayon (supra n. 5) 166-67. 7 L. Bonfante, Etruscan Dress (Baltimore 1975) 150. 8 Bonfante (supra n. 7) 150. 9 Bonfante (supra n. 7) 95. 10 A. Rathje, "The Adoption of the Homeric Banquet in
Central Italy in the Orientalizing Period," in O. Murray
ed., Sympotica (Oxford 1989) 285, mentions several exam- ples of Chiusine grave stelae that depict two banquet scenes, one reclining and one seated, presumably similar to the stele from Fiesole. She says, however, only that she learned of them from Kyle Phillips and mentions no bibli-
ography. 1 M. Monaci, "Catalogo del Museo archeologico
vescovile di Pienza," StEtr 33 (1965) pl. XCIb. 12 G. Micali, Storia degli antichi popoli italiani (Florence
1832) pl. XX.4, 19, and 21. Micali does not specify the provenance of these vases.
1994] VILLANOVAN RITUAL AND ETRUSCAN ICONOGRAPHY 619
Fig. 2. Montescudaio urn, detail of lid. (After E Nicosia, StEtr 37 [1969] pl. XCVII)
O~ O~
Oo/
Fig. 3. Tomb of the Five Chairs at Cerveteri. Reconstruc- tion of left dromos chamber. (After E Prayon, MarbWPr 1974, fig. 2)
X A
~ j~ IL
Fig. 4. Tomb of the Five Chairs at Cerveteri. Reconstruc- tion of statue on throne. (After E Prayon, MarbWPr 1974, fig. 3)
for a funeral because of the scenes they depict. Con-
versely, the Montescudaio urn, the statues from the Tomb of the Five Chairs, and the stele from Fiesole all are clearly funerary and were produced spe- cifically for that purpose. Therefore, while it is ap- parent that seated dining also took place in non-
funerary contexts, the common gesture of the
figures at seated banquets from funerary contexts
suggests that more is represented than simple scenes of people eating. The funerary seated ban-
quet scenes may indeed employ an iconography specifically related to the death ritual.
620 ANTHONY S. TUCK [AJA 98
Fig. 5. Stele from Fiesole. (After J. Martha, Eart &trusque [Paris 1889] fig. 165)
The interpretation of this gesture is a difficult is- sue. Anderson, following Bartoloni, theorizes that a similar gesture seen on small standing figures from
a few early Iron Age Latian tomb groups is con- nected to eating.13 On the dubious strength of stamped figured scenes with comparable gestures by figures with right arms outstretched and palms upturned, standing or sitting in front of a line of figures, this gesture might be construed as one of welcoming.14
Such an interpretation is plausible in the context of the Tomb of the Five Chairs. As mentioned above, the "Cult Room" contained a stone platform that was used as a base for two cylindrical thrones that are now lost. The platform was situated on the wall adjacent to the wall with the five chairs and statues. Anderson has recently suggested that these thrones were intended to be symbolically used by the newly deceased for whom the tomb was carved, a plausible interpretation given that the tomb was designed for only two bodies.'5 Anderson, following one of Prayon's original suggestions, further interprets the seated statues as representations of ancestors of the family.'6 Thus, a gesture of welcoming and accep- tance is logical, given the interactive iconography of the room. The ancestors welcome the newly de- ceased to the banquet and, as Anderson points out, the newly deceased then become elevated to the honorific status of ancestors themselves."l The Mon- tescudaio urn and the stele from Fiesole may be interpreted in the same way. On the stele, the figure on the right side welcomes the one to the left, while the scar across the table from the seated banqueter on the Montescudaio urn could have been the posi- tion for a cylindrical throne for a second banqueter.
Such an emphasis on family and ancestry would be in keeping with other funerary representations of both couples and families.' The inclusion of women in seated banquet motifs, specifically that of the Tomb of the Five Chairs, could therefore be re- lated to the importance of accentuating aspects of the aristocratic family and also serve as a precedent for the inclusion of women in reclining banquet scenes as well.
In his attempt to date stylistically the statues from the Tomb of the Five Chairs, Prayon links them to the carved figures found in the Tomb of the Statues from Ceri, near Cerveteri.'9 These statues were placed in the anteroom of a two-chambered rock- carved tomb and roughly depict enthroned figures
13 Anderson (supra n. 3) 13. 14 Micali (supra n. 12) pl. XX.5, 7, and 9. 15 Anderson (supra n. 3) 49. 16 Anderson (supra n. 3) 49; E Prayon, "Zum ur-
sprtinglichen Aussehen und Deutung des Kultraumes in der Tomba delle Cinque Sedie bei Cerveteri," MarbWPr 1974, 13, suggests that the pose of the statues was in- tended to receive offerings. The occurrence of the same
gesture of the figures on the Montescudaio urn and stele from Fiesole may, however, suggest a further significance.
17 Anderson (supra n. 3) 49. 18 L. Bonfante, "Etruscan Couples and Their Aristo-
cratic Societies," in H. Foley ed., Reflections of Women in Antiquity (New York 1981) 323-42.
19 Prayon (supra n. 5) 172-75.
1994] VILLANOVAN RITUAL AND ETRUSCAN ICONOGRAPHY 621
Fig. 6. Tomb of the Statues at Ceri. Reconstruction of statues. (After G. Colonna and EW. von Hase, StEtr 52 [1986] fig. 11)
(fig. 6). The schematically rendered figures are con- sidered by Colonna and von Hase to be a few dec- ades earlier than the statues from the Tomb of the Five Chairs.20 Although the statues from Ceri are not well preserved, both wear garments similar to those of the statues from the Tomb of the Five
Chairs, which cover the left arm so that only the hand protrudes. On both figures, the right arm is free from the garment and holds an object, but only one is well enough preserved to be identified as a
scepter topped with a lotus palmette. Colonna and von Hase have conclusively shown that these figures are directly paralleled by renderings of enthroned
figures from Asia Minor.21 One example from Alalach of King Idri-Mi depicts the figure wearing a
garment in the same fashion as the figures from Ceri and the Tomb of the Five Chairs.22 Three ex-
amples of ivory plaques from Nimrud show similar enthroned figures with scepters or staffs topped with lotus palmettes.23 One of these plaques depicts an enthroned woman.
The occurrence in an early seventh-century tomb of two statues that so clearly copy Near Eastern pro- totypes led Colonna and von Hase to suggest two
possibilities for their production.24 Either they are the work of a Near Eastern immigrant artisan work-
ing in the area of Cerveteri, or the statues are the work of Etruscan carvers familiar with the model from Near Eastern imports in the form of small
statuary or ivory carving. While the Ceri statues are
clearly derived from Near Eastern models of en- throned figures, however, the question remains of their relationship to the depiction of seated figures at banquet in Etruscan contexts.
The representation of the garments worn by the three surviving figures from the Tomb of the Five Chairs and the Ceri statues is similar enough to sug- gest that they are loosely based on the same model. The gesture of the extended right arm with up- turned palm, however, also seen on the Montes- cudaio urn and the stele from Fiesole, may indicate
that, while the model for depicting enthroned
figures stems from Near Eastern prototypes, it has been manipulated to convey a specifically Etruscan idea within a specifically Etruscan iconography.
It may even be argued that the Tomb of the Stat- ues itself serves as a sort of precedent for this kind of manipulation. While the statues themselves are derived from foreign models, both Colonna and Anderson plausibly interpret them as ancestor
figures based on comparisons with later Etruscan
tombs.25 Indeed, their interpretation by both the an- cient and modern viewer is defined by their purely Etruscan context. Thus, we do not have the simple copying of an image, but the adoption of a model because it adequately expresses an Etruscan idea not implicit in the original prototype.
20 G. Colonna and EW. von Hase, "Alle origini della statuaria etrusca: la tomba della statue presso Ceri," StEtr 52 (1986) 29.
21 Colonna and von Hase (supra n. 20) 41-48. 22 Colonna and von Hase (supra n. 20) pl. XVIIa.
23 Colonna and von Hase (supra n. 20) pl. XVIIIa-c. 24 Colonna and von Hase (supra n. 20) 47-48. 25 Colonna and von Hase (supra n. 20) 35-41; Ander-
son (supra n. 3) 44-45.
622 ANTHONY S. TUCK [AJA 98
Fig. 7. Tomb group from Poggio alla Sala, Chiusi. (After D. Randall-MacIver, Villanovans and Early Etruscans [Ox- ford 1924] pl. 45)
The iconography of the funerary banquet is more
clearly defined by the examples of funerary seated
banquets from the area around Chiusi. In several
examples, the bronze ossuaries were placed on
thrones or chairs and situated in front of tables with
all of the equipment placed inside a large dolio or
ziro (fig. 7).26 Bronze and ceramic vessels usually
completed the banquet service. Although these
burials are dated to the end of the seventh century,
they do not utilize the Chiusine cremation urn form
standard for that period, the canopic urn. Instead,
the urn is either biconical, or another typologically Villanovan form.27
The characterization of the urn is clear; not only does the urn represent the deceased, but the rest of
the funerary arrangement characterizes the de-
ceased at a banquet. In these Chiusine examples, the actual physical remains of the dead person are
enthroned and present at the meal. This suggests that illustrations of seated banqueters from funer-
ary contexts should also be understood as repre-
senting figures banqueting in death and not as ide-
alized representations of figures banqueting as they
may have in daily life.
In recent studies examining the diffusion of ban-
quet practices and motifs from the East into Etruria,
the role of the Homeric epics has been emphasized as the medium of cultural communication.28 Ac-
cording to Rathje, the practice of banqueting in aris-
tocratic society was adopted as a way of emulating the heroic aristocrats described in the Iliad and the
Odyssey with representations of seated banquets
reflecting this cultural adoption. This view has re-
cently been challenged, however, specifically with
regard to the Ficana banquet service.29 It is not my intention to enter into a discussion of the social
practice of the banquet, but rather to examine the
use of banquet imagery in funerary contexts.
26 Examples include the Tomba del Trono: R. Bianchi
Bandinelli, Clusium (MonAnt 30, 1925) 362-63, points out
that O. Montelius, La civilisation primitive en Italie 2 (Stock- holm 1910) 964 incorrectly combines material from the
Tomba del Trono and a second ziro burial from Dolciano, Tomba a Ziro 1, which according to I. Str0m, "Oriental Bronze Reliefs from Chiusi," AnalRom 17-18 (1989) 13, is
now lost. Apparently, D. Randall-MacIver, Villanovans and
Early Etruscans (Oxford 1924) 241, follows Montelius's er-
ror because he makes no mention of this second burial.
Difficulty also surrounds the Tomba di Poggio alla Sala. In
Montelius's drawing of the group (pl. 218), the ossuary is
missing its rim and the table has curved "S" shaped legs. In Randall-MacIver's photograph of the group, however,
the urn's rim is preserved and the table clearly has straight
legs (fig. 45). I would tentatively suggest that Montelius
has mistakenly drawn the table and ossuary from the lost
Tomba a Ziro 1 in his illustration of the Poggio alla Sala
burial. The Vigna Grande burial group is also problem- atic. This group consists of a bronze throne, table, and biconical urn. The chair and urn of the group, now in
Copenhagen, differ somewhat from the drawings made
prior to the museum's purchase of the artifacts. Strom
hints that this authentic chair and table may actually be
associated with a bronze biconical urn now in Florence.
This urn, which is authentic, was originally thought to be
associated with a bronze throne and table that are now in
Philadelphia, published by E. Hall-Dohan, "A Ziro Burial
from Chiusi," AJA 39 (1935) 198-209, but generally ac-
cepted to be forgeries. It should also be noted that, accord-
ing to Randall-MacIver (supra) 241, at least 20 other ziro
burials were found within 200 m of the Dolciano burials.
Unfortunately, all had been looted. Therefore, it seems
likely that the number of seated banquet burial groups was originally much larger.
27 Cf. the Poggio alla Sala urn to the round-bodied am-
phora from the Monterozzi Tomba del Guerriero, H.
Hencken, Tarquinia, Villanovans and Early Etruscans 1
(Cambridge 1968) 204 fig. c. 28 Rathje (supra n. 10) 279-88; A. Rathje, "A Banquet
Service from the Latin City of Ficana," AnalRom 6-7 (1983)
7-29; Rathje, "Manners and Customs in Central Italy in the Orientalizing Period: Influence from the Near East,"
Acta Hyperborea 1 (1988) 81-90. 29 R.R. Holloway, The Archaeology of Early Rome and La-
tium (London 1994) 191-92, n. 3.
1994] VILLANOVAN RITUAL AND ETRUSCAN ICONOGRAPHY 623
-0050 •;
i
.•iii: .
i
, : ..... .. . .
.........
..
oil AM
-VA
fs "#
!.
Fig. 8. Tarquinia, Selciatello Sopra cemetery, grave 186. (After H. Hencken, Tarquinia, Villanovans and Early Etruscans 1 [Cambridge 1968] fig. 135, courtesy American School of Prehistoric Research)
The influence of the ritual and social practices of the Iron Age Villanovan period upon these Orien-
talizing Etruscan representations of seated banquets has hitherto been ignored. While it is possible that
foreign models were used to express the idea of the
funerary banquet as it is seen in the seated banquet representations, these models were adopted and
manipulated because they could be used to express a concept already represented in many Villanovan-
period tomb groups. The most common type of Villanovan burial urn
is the biconical ossuary. These ossuaries are usually handmade impasto and frequently decorated with incised and impressed geometric schemes. They typically have one horizontal handle attached to the lower belly. In cases where the urn is made and fired with two handles, one is almost always broken off
prior to the burial. The cremated remains of the deceased were placed in the urn and the vessel was covered with a ceramic bowl. Less frequently, the urn was covered with a ceramic or bronze helmet
(fig. 8). Biconical urn burials are not the only burial form
found in Etruria during the Villanovan period. Cre-
mation burials employing urns in the shape of huts are also found, but these are far less common than biconical urns. Hut urns are more typical of the
early Iron Age Latin burial ritual than that of Etruria.30 In addition to cremation, inhumation was also practiced at some sites alongside cremation by the Villanovan II period.3' In most regions, inhu- mation eventually became the standard practice by the end of the Villanovan period. The area around Chiusi is a noteworthy exception, employing the rite of cremation well into the Archaic period.32 The biconical urn burials, however, are the most com- mon as well as the most characteristically "Villano-
van" of the Villanovan-period burial forms in Etruria.
In the region of Chiusi during the Orientalizing and Archaic periods, cremated remains of the de- ceased were typically placed in a "canopic" urn, so called because these urns often had plastically ren- dered arms and were covered with lids shaped like heads. According to Gempeler, this type of anthro-
pomorphization of burial urns is also evident in Vil- lanovan tombs such as the Tarquinia Impiccato II burial, in which the urn was covered with a helmet.33
30 Hencken (supra n. 27) vol. 2, 462-64. 31 Hencken (supra n. 27) vol. 2, 640. 32 R. Gempeler, Die etruskischen Kanopen. Herstellung, Ty-
pologie, Entwicklungsgeschichte (Einsiedeln 1974) 251.
3 Gempeler (supra n. 32) 250.
624 ANTHONY S. TUCK [AJA 98
Fig. 9. Tarquinia, Impiccato cemetery, grave II. Helmet with stylized face, front and back. (After H. Hencken, Tarquinia, Villanovans and Early Etruscans 1 [Cambridge 1968] fig. 159, courtesy American School of Prehistoric Research)
The helmet was decorated with a highly stylized face
(fig. 9). According to Hencken's chronology, this
grave falls in the Villanovan IIB stage, or ca. 750 B.C.34 Other examples of biconical urns with cepha- lomorphic covers, such as those from Saturnia and Vulci, discussed below, also indicate a conceptual link between the deceased and the burial urn al-
ready in existence in the Villanovan period.35 In the Impiccato II burial, a cap helmet functions
as the cover, but also apparently anthropomor- phizes the urn containing the deceased in a fashion similar to that seen in the Chiusine canopic burials. The examples of bronze and ceramic helmets cov-
ering urns suggest that we are to understand this
covering as symbolizing the head of the deceased, since the bronze helmets themselves are worn on the head and the ceramic imitations obviously rep- resent the same idea in a less expensive medium.36
Interestingly, some examples from the Cerveteri Sorbo cemetery appear to represent leather hats
rather than metal helmets, suggesting that any ele- ment worn on the head would be suitable to symbol- ize it." Furthermore, since the majority of helmets or hats used to cover urns are ceramic, it seems
likely that they were produced specifically for the
funerary ritual. Most biconical urn burials are not covered with
bronze or ceramic helmets, however, but rather an inverted bowl. Like the burial urns, these cover bowls are typologically consistent and similar
throughout the Villanovan period. They are typi- cally open vessels with a single handle with base forms varying from flat to pedestal.
Admittedly, it is more difficult to interpret these cover bowls as representations of the head of the deceased. Biconical urns from Saturnia and Vulci have been linked to the Chiusine practice of anthro-
pomorphization, however, and are covered with bowls very similar to the standard bowl form, except that they have a round, ball-like projection at the base (fig. 10).38 Possibly, the examples from Saturnia and Vulci represent the development of an idea in- herent in the coverings for the biconical burials, that the cover, whether a helmet or bowl, symbolizes the head of the deceased.
If we accept this premise, then it is further plau- sible that the urn is intended to represent the body. One dramatic example of this is mentioned by Ran- dall-MacIver. A biconical urn was found in an ex- cavation in Florence that was in every way like other biconical urns, except for the fact that it was half the usual size.39 The diminutive size of the urn, according to Randall-MacIver, was explained by the fact that the teeth of a child were found inside
among the cremated remains.40 Therefore, it would seem that in this example the small size of the urn was related to the small size of the person it con- tained.
34 Hencken (supra n. 27) 172. 35 Gempeler (supra n. 32) 250. 36 Numerous examples of bronze figurines wearing
Villanovan crested helmets indicate that these urn covers were helmets or intended to represent helmets. For exam- ples of helmeted human figures, see H. Hencken, "Horse Tripods in Etruria," AJA 61 (1957) 1-4, figs. 1, 6-7; and E.H. Richardson, The Etruscans (Chicago 1976) fig. VI.
37 I. Pohl, The Iron Age Necropolis of Sorbo at Cerveteri (Stockholm 1972) 111-12. Pohl sees the upper portion of these urn covers as blends of the Latian tradition of urn covers imitating the roofs of huts, on the one hand, and helmeted burials, on the other. This blending of traditions is also seen on examples from Vulci and may be an infre- quent southern Etrurian phenomenon.
38 For Saturnia: see L. Donati, "Un nuovo tipo di cop- erchio antropoide a Saturnia," in M.G. Marzi Costagli and L. Tamagno Perno eds., Studi di antichitat in onore di Guglielmo Maetzke 2 (Rome 1984) 273-79; and L. Donati, Le tombe da Saturnia (Florence 1989) 38-39. For Vulci see E. Hall-Dohan, Italic Tomb Groups in the University Museum of Philadelphia (Philadelphia 1942) 81 nos. 3-4. Another similar example is now in the Villa Giulia: A.M. Fugazzola Delpino, La cultura villanoviana (Rome 1984) 73-74. Fugazzola Delpino suggests that this piece is from Vulci and there can be little doubt that it functioned in the same manner as the other examples cited.
" Randall-MacIver (supra n. 26) 67. 40 Randall-MacIver (supra n. 26) 67.
1994] VILLANOVAN RITUAL AND ETRUSCAN ICONOGRAPHY 625
Fig. 10. Biconical urn from Saturnia. (After L. Donati, Le Tombe da Saturnia [Florence 1989] fig. 10)
Another example of this phenomenon is illus- trated by an urn from Vulci, now in the Villa Giulia. This urn, like the example from Florence, is smaller than most biconical urns and covered with a helmet- like element. Oddly, the knob of this cover is similar to the top of a hut urn, and resembles those men- tioned previously from Cerveteri. Fugazzola Delpino theorizes that the size of the urn indicates that it was used for the interment of a child.41
According to Bartoloni, the customary burial practice for infants at this time was inhumation in amphoras.42 Ridgway has noted a similar treatment of infant burials at Pithekoussai. He suggests that
infants, not yet regarded as full members of their
community, were inhumed without strict obser- vance of collective ritual and that such occasions were private matters.43 The few examples of mini- aturized biconical ossuaries were possibly children of socially prominent parents, thus explaining the different treatment of the child in the funerary rit- ual. If this were the case, however, we would expect to find more examples of such miniaturized urns. Until a similar urn is found in a secure context and the physical remains can be analyzed, such urns will remain enigmatic.
Another element of this possible characterization of the urn as a human body comes from Tarquinia, the "Dolio with a Girdle with a Turtle" from the Monterozzi cemetery. According to Hencken's de-
scription of this grave, a bronze girdle was found attached to the bronze ossuary.44 Bonfante is of the
opinion that these "girdles" were worn by individu- als as decorative belts.45 If this supposition is correct, then the presence of the girdle attached to the urn in the "Dolio with a Girdle with a Turtle" suggests that the urn was "dressed" in a manner like the fashion of the day. This possible dressing of the urn
strongly implies that it was intended to symbolize the body of the deceased. Furthermore, Bonfante indicates that wrapping an image in cloth was a sim-
ple way of expressing the idea of a garment.46 It is therefore significant that the urn from Tarquinia, "Dolio with a Bronze Amphora and Bronze Pecto- ral," was wrapped in a brown cloth.47
Furthermore, it is interesting to note Schweitzer's comments about the significant debt owed to textile motifs in the development of Geometric decoration on Greek Iron Age pottery. According to Schweitzer, most of the decorative motifs of the style are best explained as stemming from textile work. He states that "surely the character of the abstract surface style of decoration used in Early Geometric, cling- ing more and more to the tectonic structure of the vessel, like a garment, is best explained as being associated with a flourishing textile industry."48
A reconstruction of a sixth-century B.C. garment from southwest Germany is decorated with woven motifs, the swastika and meander, both strikingly similar to the incised decoration common on many
41 Fugazzola Delpino (supra n. 38) 75-76. 42 G. Bartoloni, La cultura villanoviana: all'inizio della sto-
ria etrusca (Rome 1989) 31. 43 Ridgway (supra n. 1) 52. 44 Hencken (supra n. 27) 192.
45 Bonfante (supra n. 7) 22-23. 46 Bonfante (supra n. 7) 106. 47 Hencken (supra n. 27) 198. 48 B. Schweitzer, Greek Geometric Art (London 1971) 30.
626 ANTHONY S. TUCK [AJA 98
Villanovan biconical urns.49 Barber has argued that the similarity of many Etruscan and Hallstatt woven motifs may be due to similar weaving practices.50 Thus, if we are correct in seeing biconical urns as
representing the deceased, then it is interesting that so many are decorated with incised geometric pat- terns similar to woven motifs. Although most Vil-
lanovan-period ceramics are decorated with such
designs, perhaps upon a humanoid urn the incision was intended to represent a garment.
Two further examples from Vulci are also reveal-
ing. On one example of an otherwise ordinary bi- conical urn, two raised knobs have been placed on the upper portion of the vessel, perhaps indicating breasts.5' From the Cavalupo necropolis, we have an
example of a biconical urn adorned with a bronze necklace and pendant, hung around the neck of the vessel.52
As mentioned above, one unusual characteristic of the vast majority of biconical urn burials is the
single handle. Usually, the handle is horizontal, but a few examples of urns exist with single vertical han- dles. In several instances, the urn is fired with two
handles, but one is broken off before the funeral
deposition. The consistency of this phenomenon suggests a ritual purpose to either the production of the urn with a single handle or to the breaking off of one of the handles. If we are correct in viewing the urn and the cover as symbolic representations of the deceased, then it is possible that breaking off one handle may have served ritually to disable or
cripple the urn, or perhaps to lend a sense of finality to the deposition. The cases of urns produced with one handle may reflect a belief that producing the urn with one handle served the same function as
breaking one handle off before the burial deposi- tion. This practice, however, remains enigmatic.
In the majority of examples, the burial urn and cover are not the only ceramics found in these buri- als. Drinking cups, libation bowls, jugs, double- bodied cups, askoi, ceramic stands, plates, and small urns are all commonly associated with these burials. Unlike imported pottery, there is no reason to as- sume that these locally produced forms were highly valued intrinsically or that they represent prestige goods. Therefore, it is reasonable to argue that these ceramics were included in the burials because of some role they played in the ritual of the interment.
Examples of such funerary assemblages are found at several sites, such as tombs 284, 299, and 321 from the Sorbo cemetery,53 tombs 25, 51, and 66 from Vulci,54 tombs 31 and 37 from the necropolis of Scuole Medie di Castenaso,55 several groups from
Veii,56 as well as numerous examples from Tar-
quinia. While a large number of these biconical urn burials do contain secondary ceramics of this na-
ture, it must be pointed out that not all do. Some
examples contain only the urn and cover, while some also include fibulae or other metal items with the urn. A large majority of biconical urn burials contain secondary ceramics, however, most of which tend to be similar in form from tomb to tomb.
Although assigning specific functions to vessel
types can be problematic, it seems that these ceramic
types can be generally characterized as pertaining to the serving and consumption of food and drink,
especially the jugs, cups, and plates.57 Ceramic tomb
groups consisting of the biconical urn, cover, and
secondary ceramics relating to food consumption are found consistently throughout the chronologi- cal series of Villanovan burials at several sites.58
The inclusion of pottery in burials is a common
aspect of funeral customs all over the world. These Villanovan burials are distinctive, however, in that
49 E.J.W. Barber, Prehistoric Textiles: The Development of Cloth in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages (Princeton 1991) 189.
50 Barber (supra n. 49) 194. 51 E Delpino, "Elementi antropomorfi in corredi vil-
lanoviani," in L. Olschki ed., La civilta arcaica di Vulci e la sua espansione (Florence 1977) 177, argues that several of the examples cited above, especially the urn covers with rounded projections from Saturnia and Vulci, are "pre- canopic" in their attempts to "humanize" the cinerary urn. While I fully agree with this analysis, I would suggest that his examples and the others cited above indicate that such anthropomorphic tendencies are developments of the coherent, preexisting theme that the biconical ossuary and cover was, by itself, intended to symbolize the de- ceased.
52 E Roncalli, "Earte," in G.P Carratelli ed., Rasenna, Storia e civiltd degli Etruschi (Milan 1986) 547, figs. 452-53.
51 Pohl (supra n. 37) 77-82, 177. 54 Hall-Dohan (supra n. 38) 81-88. 55 E. Silvestri, in La necropoli villanoviana di Ca' dell'Orbo
(Bologna 1979) 80-82, 84-87. 56 J. Palm, "Veiian Tomb Groups in the Museo Prehis-
torico, Rome," OpArch 7 (1952) 70-71. 57 For a breakdown of the typology of ceramic forms
found at Tarquinia, see Hencken (supra n. 27) suppl. charts 2-6.
58 E.g., Hencken (supra n. 27) 35. Selciatello grave 8 contained a biconical urn, cover bowl, drinking cup, two jugs, a ceramic "boat" (which Hencken suggests is a lamp but could also be a shallow pitcher), and ceramic stand. The last of these types seems to be connected specifically to eating in later Etruscan contexts. This grave is placed by Hencken in the Villanovan IA period, therefore one of the earliest in his chronological series at Tarquinia.
19941] VILLANOVAN RITUAL AND ETRUSCAN ICONOGRAPHY 627
the cremation urn was apparently intended to sym- bolize the dead person it contained. These human- oid ceramic representations were also surrounded by other ceramics that pertain to the consumption of food and drink. The representation of the de- ceased surrounded by dining equipment thus sug- gests that the dead were intended to be shown at a meal.
Therefore, it seems that the idea of the deceased at a funerary meal, although represented differ- ently, is similar in both its Villanovan and Oriental- izing-period manifestations. Moreover, several ele- ments of the later Etruscan seated banquet funerary iconography reflect Villanovan influence. For ex- ample, the Montescudaio urn is itself biconical. Hencken also points out that the table on the lid is a tripod, similar to several examples of tripods found in earlier, Villanovan burials from Tar- quinia.59 The urns used in the Chiusine seated ban- quet burials are either biconical or are typologically consistent with Villanovan forms. According to Zuffa, the type lA chair60 that is associated with the Dolciano Tomb of the Throne burial has Villanovan parallels as well.61 Finally, the urn in the Poggio alla Sala burial was wrapped in a cloth, a practice that, as mentioned above, also occurs in the Villanovan period.62
This interpretation of banquet imagery in nu- merous Villanovan tomb groups perhaps offers an insight into an anomalous aspect of many later Etruscan reclining banquet scenes, the participation of women reclining with men. As many scholars have observed, the symposium of Archaic Greek so- ciety was an aspect of social and political life domi- nated by men. When women are depicted, the scenes are either fanciful or the women are rele- gated to roles such as flute girl or prostitute.63 The
contrast with many Etruscan scenes of couples re- clining at a banquet, without any indication that the women are of inferior status, is striking.
As Bonfante has persuasively argued, the aristo- cratic political structure of Etruscan city states helps to explain this treatment of women in Etruscan art.64 An artistic emphasis on husband and wife as well as mother and child is logical in an aristocratic society, given the political need to focus on aspects of the family, its stability, and its perpetuation. This emphasis is especially evident in funerary iconog- raphy, when the stability of the family is most at risk with the death of one of its members.
It is also possible, however, that the repre- sentation of banquet imagery in so many Villano- van-period tombs reveals another stimulus for the inclusion of women in later Etruscan banquet scenes, both seated and reclining. While it is always problematic to rely solely on objects deposited in the grave to determine the sex of the individual, the state of the cremated remains of many Villanovan tombs leaves few alternatives.
For example, if we are correct in assuming the bronze belts found in some Villanovan II graves were worn by women, as Bonfante suggests,65 then their inclusion in a tomb strongly encourages us to assume that we are dealing with the burial of a woman. In a grave such as the "Dolio with the Gir- dle with a Turtle," where a belt was attached to the urn and the grave also included eating equipment, the idea of a funerary meal is expressed. This im- plies, or at least strongly suggests, the same concep- tualization of the afterlife for both men and women in these Villanovan tombs, which perhaps finds new expression in later banquet scenes such as the Tomb of the Five Chairs and in later Archaic-period reclin- ing banquet scenes of a funerary nature.66
59 Hencken (supra n. 27) vol. 2, 586. 60 This designation refers to the furniture typology es-
tablished by S. Steingriber, Etruskische Mibel (Rome 1979) 7-57.
61 M. Zuffa, "Trono miniaturistico da Verrucchio," in G. Camporeale ed., Studi in onore di Luisa Banti (Rome 1965) 351-55.
62 Cf. Bianchi Bandinelli (supra n. 26) 396, Poggio alla Sala; and Hencken (supra n. 27) 198, "Dolio with a Bronze Amphora and Bronze Pectoral."
6" 0. Murray, Mary Flexner Lecture Series, Bryn Mawr College, 1992 (publication forthcoming).
64 Bonfante (supra n. 18) 323-42. 65 Bonfante (supra n. 7) 23 states that bronze belts of
this type were usually found in the graves of women and are clearly worn by women in later figured scenes from the more conservative regions to the north of Etruria
proper. 66 De Marinis (supra n. 2) 116-17 sees a tripartite divi-
sion into the artistic regions of Chiusi, Fiesole, and Tar- quinia of Archaic-period representations of reclining banquet scenes. Women are only represented reclining with men in those representations from the artistic orbit of Tarquinia. J.P Small, "The Banquet Frieze from Poggio Civitate," StEtr 39 (1971) 60, however, has suggested that women are depicted on the banquet frieze plaques from Murlo, which are the earliest certain surviving repre- sentations of a reclining banquet in Etruscan art and gen- erally thought to fall under the artistic influence of Chiusi. The Murlo friezes are non-funerary and therefore ancil- lary to the question at hand, but it is interesting that Etrus- can reclining banquet scenes show this tendency from a very early point.
628 A.S. TUCK, VILLANOVAN RITUAL AND ETRUSCAN ICONOGRAPHY
In conclusion, it seems that the representation of the seated banquet in the Orientalizing period has conceptual roots in the burial practices of the Vil- lanovan period. Within the rapidly changing sphere of Orientalizing Etruria, the adoption and develop- ment of the motif of the seated figure was used to express a preexisting idea of the deceased at a fu-
nerary meal. The widespread thematic expression of the dead at a meal in Villanovan contexts helps to
explain the pervasive use of the iconography of the
funerary banquet in tombs throughout Etruria from the Archaic period onward.
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