The Land of the Etruscans

98 Pages·1985·90.121 MB·English

by  Marisa Bonamici

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THE,LAND
OFTHE, E,TRI-]SCANS
from Prehistory to the Middle Ages
edited by SalvatoreS ettis
Texts by Marisa Bonamici, Riccardo Francovich,
Renata Grifoni Cremonesi, Andreina Ricci
and Leonardo Rombai
Drawings by Giovanni Caselli
ScalaB ooks
#*n //qr4,
/
The publisher wishes to dedicate this book to the
memory of Ferruccio Marchi, master designer,
art publisher and Florentine gentleman.
CONTENTS In order to enablet he readeri mmediatelyt o distinguishb e-
tween the different historical periods dealt with in each of
the nine geographicaal rease xamined,t he first part ofevery
PREFACE, 3
chapter (dealing with prehistory) has been ser in italics, the
THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT, 5 secondp art (Etruscan and Roman period) is in roman, and
the third (Early Middle Ages) is in a smallert ypeface.
THE PREHISTORICAL AGE, 11
The texts are by the following authors:
THE ETRUSCAN PERIOD, 12 RenataG rifoni Cremonesi- Prehistory
Marisa Bonamici - Etruscan oeriod
THE ROMAN PERIOD,1.4 AndreinaR icci- Romano erircd
RiccardoF rancovich- Early Middle Ages
THE MIDDLE AGES. 16
THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AREAS, 18 Couer$: onet tatile ofA polhfrzn thes anctaarlo f Scasataot Falerii,
VEII AND THE FALISCAN PLAIN, 18 intpired b1 a stataeo f Ahxander tbe Great b1 tbe Greek scalptor
Prehistorical Implements, 22 Llsippas (late 4th centaryB .C.). Rone, Villa Ciulia.
VOLSINII,27
"Pltltagorat't
Title page:t be tombk nowna s lair" at Cortona( 2nd
The Language and Origins of the Etruscansr 30
nntary B.C.).
CHIUSI AND PERUGTA.32
The Banquet in Etturiar 36 Back coaera: tomb in tlte necropoliso f Norchia (4tb-3rd centary
AREZZO, FIESOLE, AND FLORENCE, 38 B.C,).
Religion and Divination,42
.
"Tonba
PISA,L UCCAA ND LUNI,47 1. Tarqainia,e ndu a// of the degliA uguri" (540-520
Agriculture and Agrarian Landscape, 50 B.C.). On eitbers ide of tbe doorwayw lsicbs lnbolized tbe world of
tbed ead,t wofguresg reett heo nlooker.
VOLTERRA, POPULONIA AND SIENA, 54
Metallurgy,58
O Copyright 1985 by SCALA, Istituto Fotografico
VETULONIA AND RUSELLAE, 63
Editoriale, Antella, Firenze
Ceramics Workshopsr 66 Editing: Daniele Casalino
VULCI, SOVANA AND COSA, 69 Layout: Fried Rosenstock
Trad,e,74 Drawings:G iovanni Caselli
Maps:I laria Casalino
TARQUINIA AND CAERE, 80
Producedb y SCALA
Slaveryr 82
Photographs:S CALA (M. Falsini, N. Grifoni, M. Sarri)
Hilltop Towns in Tuscany: Scarlinor 89 with the exception of:.n n. 5 3 (F. Papafava);8 5, 8 6, 1 15
(Pubbliaerfoto,M ilan); 1 16 (ArchaeologicalM useum,
Museumso f Etruria, 94
Grosseto)p; .89AI,III, IV (R. Francovich)
Index ofPlaces.9 6 Printed in Italy by SogemaM arzari, Schio
PRE,FACE
Tbe land of the Etrascans is not sinpfu tbe stageo n which and sociald ffirentiation: in all theses pberesm an and tbe
their remarkableb istory anfolded.I t playd an inportant land are tbep rotagonists.A nd it is not a casualc ollection
roh in the long line ofeuentst bat beganw ell beforet hefor- of euentsb, ut a conplex historical deaelopment,fromw bich
mation of the Etruscan nation and continuedb eynd its springthe rootso foarp resent.
slowa ssimilationa ithin tbe ciailization ofRone. Following a circular geographic route, fron Veii
The territory betweentb e Tiber and the Arno, both nortbaards to Fiuole and Pisa, and tben soutb again to
becaasoef its uarie! of landscapea nd potential resnttrces Tarquinia and Caere,t his book attemptst o illustrate tbe
(from its uastf orests to its mineral reserues)a nd becaase bistory of eacba rea. Oar sn,lrcesa re mostl1a rchaeological
of the balanceb etweenin land and coast( idealfor maritime fnds, ratber tban written docamentsO. ur historical sur-
trade), ffirs as tbe essentiael lementfso r an understand- aeJg nesb eynd tbe Etruscan and Roman periods to tbe
ing of itsh istory,A nd, conuerseii,t is tbe aork of tbeh is- earj Middle Agu, but it is not our intention to proue tbe
toriansa nd archaeologisttsb at alloas us to reconstructtb e existenceo f a continuitl tbat too nanl facts could easill
characteristicso f tbe nataral enaironmenitn dffirent per- refuta IVe intend merell to illastrate the essentiael /e-
iods. Hilltop uillagesa nd tbe deuelopnento f arban com- nents of an exemplary caseo f closei nteraction betaeen
nunities; regulation of watercoarseas nd agrarian organi' man and the land he liueso n.
zation of the land; deuelopmenotf commanicationro utes,b 1t
riaer or on land (ap to the Roman roads); manttfuctaring
agricultural and trading actiaities;m echanismos f caltaral SaluatoreS ettis
2. Map of Etruria.
THE NATURAL
ENVIRONMENT
b1L eonardoR ombai
Thanks to both historical and archaeological
sources, we are able to reconstruct the major en-
vironmental features of Etruria, as well as the
complex role played by the natural habitat (geolo-
gical structure and development of the soil, cli-
mate, inland watercourses and coastline, flora).
The arca between the Tiber and the Arno-
and also the stretch ofland further north, asfar as
the River Magra and the Appennines, annexed by
Augustus to the 7th Region-was basically not 'l-be
3. ntountainousb eecba ood on Mount Amiata.
very different at the time of the Etruscans from
what it is like now. Some aspectso f the landscape,
however, must have been quite different, although
these changes are not the work of nature, but of quently flooded. The rivers'courses were charac-
man, who over the past two and a half thousand terrzed by curves and bends, with many rrmlfica-
years (albeit somewhat discontinuously) has tions; all the beds were very wide and obviously
causedt he destruction of a great deal ofthe spon- without any artlfrcial banks. The River Clanis flow-
taneous flora and the alteration of its composition. ed towards the Tiber directly from Arezzo, the
Man has changed the course of rivers and dried Serchio (Auser) ran south of Lucca and one branch
the plains, he has built towns, villages and roads. emptied into the Lake of Bientina, the other
By the first millennium B.C., the inland plains, into the Arno at Pisa. The Ombrone originally flow-
in the mountainous areas around the Appennines, ed into Lake Prile until it managed, at the be-
were no longer marshy, and the plains near the glnning of the Christian era, to change its course
coast had been created by the filling in of the gulfs, sufficiently to empty directly into the sea. Yet,
while all volcanoes in Tuscany and Latium had al- basically, the course of the rivers was not too dif-
ready been extinct for thousands of years. Even ferent from that oftoday.
the structure of the mountains (shapes, position, Before the development of the Etruscan socie-
altitude and slope) was almost exactly the same as ty and economy, the flora of the region consisted
it is today; the earth's surface has simply been low- primarily in woods. The changes in climate which
ered-the result of erosion-by one or two occurred after the pre-historical eras did not modi-
metres. The only topographical element that fy the characteristics of the natural flora estab-
differs in any considerable way is the coastline lished after the last ice age: starting from the coast-
near flat areas, where the rivers, with their silt, line and moving towards the highest peaks of the
have slowly filled in all the marshy areas. As early Appennines, there were a succession of funda-
as the 7th-6th centuries B.C. the dunes along the mental botanical groupings, more or less the same
coast had akeady formed into continuous sand- as today. These began with the Mediterranean
bars, creatingabanier isolating the inland marshy evergreen shrub (without, however, the umbrella
lakes from the sea. In other words the coastline pine, which was only introduced by the Romans);
consisted in crescent-shaped inlets alternating there then followed the Submediterranean dry
with promontories-as is, for the most part, still wood, consisting primarily in pubescent oak, and
the cas*but did not have the pronounced jutting the Submountainous Turkey oak wood, both of
areasa round the deltas of the Tiber, the Arno and them without chestnut-trees which, although indi-
the Ombrone. The mouths of these rivers were ac- genous, spread after the Middle Ages as cultivated
tually recessedb y five kilometres in the case of the trees; and finally the Mountainous beech wood,
first two, and by two in the case of the Ombrone. also including many conifers such as the silver fir
Large expanses of marshland also filled some and the Norway spruce.
of the lower-lying inland plains, for the rivers fre- At that time there must also have been large
fhc Natural ['.nvironment
1. T-hen tountainaus siluer fir aood on Mount Antiata; in tbe dis-
tancet he c/a1 hil/s of Radicofani.
5. Hydrrgrapbic uap ( Etruria.
o
l.agoonr and Iakes in classical time:
Rrr cr counes changed in classical times
\larshianclsin the imperiala gea nd the NliddleA ges
stretches of plain-growing forest, made up of al- human settlements, the drainage systems and the
der, elm, common oak, poplar, willow and ash introduction of the plough allowed for the wide-
which-together with the hydrophyte herbaceous scale cultivation of grain and textile fibres, of
'of
and shrubby vegetation typical of damp areas- vines and fruit trees. This form agriculture
developed throughout the marshy lands and changed the appearanceo f the landscape, creating
"closed
around the lagoons and wherever the surface was the geometric pattern of fields" (with the
covered with water. Today there are only small vines, tied high up to their supporting trees, in
areaso f it left at San Rossore near Pisa. straight rows marking the borders of the square
The development and expansion of the Etrus- fields). All the areasa round the settlementsi n south
can civthzation caused a gradual but profound ern Etruria began to have this regular appearance.
transformation of the environment, particulaily in The only exception was the stretch north of the
terms of water courses and flora. The Etruscans Arno-a natural border between the Etruscans
deserve their fame as expert regulators of water and the Ligurians-which was only won over to
courses.T hey radically changed the appearanceo f this kind of agricultural colonization in the 2nd
the marshy plains and lagoons, not by actual drain- century B.C. when the consular roads, the Cassia
age, but probably through a widespread series of and the Aurelia, were extendedt o Luni.
works increasing the natural (and, in some cases, The Romans reorganized and further devel-
artificial) drainage of the water, in order to make oped this system of regular square plots in the
the agricultural land permanently cultivable and plains with mixed cultivation, at the expense of
the level of the lakes uniform, thus making fishing the wood and pasture land. They introduced the
and navigation possible. At the same rime, on the cultivation of the olive and of the cvDress.w hich
higher plains and on the coastal and inland hills, flourished at least until the end of thl^late republi-
they began to exploit the resourceso f the forests, c^n ^ge. Later, the transition from small, single-
using the wood to build ships and houses and as family farm units to the large landed estatesb ased
fuel for the metal industry. The clearings were on slave labour led to the degradation and regres-
used as cultivable land and pasture. sion of the agricultural areas-especially at the
Under the Etruscans. the increasedn umber of time of the later Roman Empire-with an increase
fhe \atural Environment
l]ccclr u oods and mountain meadS*, 6. Map of the spantaneousu egetationi n Etruria.
Dccirluous oak woocls
7. The riaer Fiora, wbith marks the nortbern border of uolcanic
lilcrgreen oak woods and l\lediterranean shrub
Etraria.
\lcscirhcrmic woocls
of wood and pasture land and a decreaseo f culti- the towns on the hillsides. This choice-which
vatedz ones. also offered more favourable climatic condi-
In other words, the natural environment of- tions-was determined by the Etruscan political
fered huge possibilities to a culturally and techno- set-up and not, as some would have it, by the fact
Iogically developed society. Firstly, the conforma- that the plains were uninhabitable because of
tion of the land and the composition of the soil flooding or malaia. And in fact, when the region
were favourable to agriculture, for there were was unified under the Romans, settlementss prang
many fertile stretches( the volcanic soil on rhe pla- up throughout the plains.
teaux of Tuscany and Latium and the irrigation The natural resources were copious. The im-
provided by the flooding of rivers on the plains) mense forests produced wood for building and for
which the Etruscans cultivated with very advanc- fuel, which was also used in the minins industrv.
ed agricultural techniques. The mineral resources The manufacturing industry protp.r.Jthanks io
in the central and western part of the region-the the ample water supplies,t o the easya ccessto min-
"mineral
so-called Etruria"-are also connected eral deposits and to ports for export. At the mouths
with the geological formarion: the top soil, of the major rivers, as well as in the inlets be-
consisting in clay and calcareousd eposits and sand- tween the promontories, there were safe harbours
stone, allowed easy access to the older forma- for trading vessels;t he river valleys were impor-
tions below, rich in copper, tin, lead containing tant communication routes with the interior.
silver, iron, cinnabar, ochre and so on. Etruria's very position, umbi/icusI taliae, was extra-
Almost all the to\Mnsa nd the minor agricultu- ordinarily favourable.
ral centres were built on top of hills, the so-called The coastal lagoons, like the Prile, offered in-
"Etruscan
position." This is undoubtedly connect- exhaustible reserveso f fish and wildlife as well as
ed with the geological characteristics of the re- shelter for boats. The hygienic condition of the
gion: the Etruscans graspedt he exceptional defen- coast and of the Tiber and Chiana valeys musr
sive advantages offered by the narrow tufa pla- have been fairly good, since several settlements
teaux, from which thev could keep watch over the sprang up in these areasw hich later were to be so
valleys,t he rivers, the fords, the ioastal ports and deadly. Malaria, if there was any at all, certainly
'I
he Natural [-nvironmenr
E. ,1 uine.Tard at .lorano, growing an lhe
lafa /erraces.
9. Ceonorpho/rlqical and minera/ nap of
Ittraria.
10. Lake Accesa, whirh lies in the middle
of a /arge minera/ basin exp/oited durin,q
c/assica// imes.
T
,'\llurial plains
\lountain ranges
\lountain lakes
tps 0
Volcanic structures
I
trNlesozoic calcareous rock
]:j':::,"::t1::^C""f'f"s"")
marl, scal) argtllaceous rock, etc)
n
Nlarine Pliocene
E
wContinental Quatetnary
n Volcanic tufa
(;ranite

o I ron
Copper
I
I-eacl
\
o Tin
I{ercury
I hc Natural L,nvironment
,.-1ti;:,i.:f,
did not constitute a serious menace, for the popu- valley and its natural harbour, that remained an
lation led a very active and productive life. It was urban settlement of any importance during the
not until the 3rd-5th centuries A.D. that malaria late Middle Ages. Several new towns grew up
reachedt he height of its destructive power. along the maior communication route of the time,
During the period of the Roman Empire, how- the Via Francigenao r Romea,w hich connected cen-
ever, the creation of large landed estatesa nd the tral and western Europe to the capital of Chris-
decline of productive activities and trade-since tianity through the Cisa pass, Pontremoli, Lucca,
Etruria was no longer on the maior communica- Altopascio, Fucecchio, San Gimignano (later Pog-
tion routes between Rome and the Po valley- gibonsi), Siena,R adicofani and Acquapendente'
causedt he economic decline of the cities. The pop- The importance of this road definitively moved-
ulation of the cities decreaseda nd many coastal the economic, cultural and demographic centre of
towns were abandoned completely; new "castles" Etruria towards the interior: a process which cul-
were built on the hilltops in the interior. minated in the 13th and 14th centuries when Flor-
Even before the destruction causedb y the bar- ence asserted her supremacy by gaining control
barian invasions in the 5th century A.D. (and over the routes leading to the Appennine passesi n
even more so in the late Middle Ages when the re- the Mugello towards Bologna.
gion was the victim of raids by Arab pirates), coast-
al Etruria was already described as a desolate,i n-
hospitable and unhealthy wasteland. Natural
phenomena, such as the silting up of the river
mouths which caused the plains to turn into
swamps, favoured the spread of malana. Pisa was
the only Roman town, thanks to its favourable po-
sition at the mouth of the most important Tuscan