Ritual and Industry in the Late Etruscan Period: The Well at Cetamura del Chianti
-
Cheryl L Sowder
Abstract
Excavations recently completed in a well at Cetamura del Chianti have brought to light new and abundant evidence attesting to activities at the site over the span of the 3rd century B.C.E. to first century C.E. Focused on in this article are the artifactual and organic remains extracted out of the Late Etruscan strata of this well. The artifacts range from ceramic tokens, weights, and miniature‑sized vessels, to tools and utensils of iron, stone, and worked wood, to finely crafted bronze vessels and bronze implements. Many of these represent items from daily life repurposed as ritual offerings, lowered down or cast into the well. This discussion relates these finds to the overall theme of the site’s economy, centered on industry and religion. Analysis of the finds has yielded information on the enterprises of the artisans active at the site and the rituals they may have practiced and on outside trade links of Cetamura with sites elsewhere in Etruria during the Late Etruscan period of the 3rd to early first century B.C.E.
Bibliography
L’Aqua degli dei, imagine di fontane, vasellame, culti salutari e in grotto. 2003. Montepulciano: Editrice le Balze.Search in Google Scholar
Barbanera, M., ed. 2009. L’occhio archeologico: Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli nella Siena del primo ‘900. Milan: Silvana Editoriale.Search in Google Scholar
Beach, S. 2015. “Metal from the Well at Cetamura del Chianti: A Preliminary Study of Selected Metal Objects.” M.A. paper, Florida State University.Search in Google Scholar
Cha, C. 2015. “Ceramic Weights from the Well at Cetamura del Chianti.” M.A. paper, Florida State University.Search in Google Scholar
Camerin, N. 1999. “L’Italia antica: Italia settentrionale.” In Carri da Guerra e principi Etruschi, edited by A. Emiliozzi, 33–44. Rome: “L’Erma” di Bretschneider.Search in Google Scholar
Cianferoni, G.C. 1992. “I reperti metallaci.” In Populonia nel età ellenistica, I materiali dale necropoli, edited by A. Romualdi, 13–41. Florence: Arti grafiche “Torchio.”Search in Google Scholar
de Grummond, N.T. 2011a. “Ritual Practices in the Sanctuary of the Etruscan Artisans at Cetamura.” In The Archaeology of Sanctuaries and Ritual in Etruria, edited by N.T. de Grummond and I. Edlund-Berry, 68–88. Supplement 81 to the JRA.Search in Google Scholar
de Grummond, N.T. 2011b. “A Barbarian Myth? The Case of the Talking Head.” In The Barbarians of Ancient Europe: Realities and Interactions, edited by L. Bonfante, 313–45. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Search in Google Scholar
de Grummond, N.T. 2014. “The Cult of Lur: Prophecy and Human Sacrifice?” In Studi e ricerche a Tarquinia e in Etruria. Atti del simposio internazionale in ricordo di Francesca Romana Serra Ridgway, Tarquinia 24–25 settembre 2010, edited by M.D. Gentili and L. Maneschi, 141–52. Mediterranea 10. Pisa: Fabrizio Serra editore.Search in Google Scholar
de Grummond, N.T. 2015. “Holy Waters at Cetamura.” Etruscan News 17.1:6–7.Search in Google Scholar
de Grummond, N.T., P. Rowe, C. Ewell, and C. Bizzari. 1999. “Excavations at Cetamura del Chianti (Civitamura), 1992-1998: Preliminary Report.” EtrStud 6:163–84.10.1515/etst.1999.6.1.163Search in Google Scholar
de Grummond, N. T., and C. Bizzarri. 2000. Cetamura Antica: Traditions of Chianti. Tallahassee: Florida State University.Search in Google Scholar
de Grummond, N.T., R. Giachetti, and N. Marosi. 2009. The Sanctuary of the Etruscan Artisans at Cetamura del Chianti: The Legacy of Alvaro Tracchi. Florence: EdiFir.Search in Google Scholar
de Grummond, N.T., C. Sowder, L. Holland, L. Cecchini, F. Cini, and N. Marosi. 2015. “Excavations in an Etruscan Well at Cetamura del Chianti: A Preliminary Report.” EtrStud 18:1–25.10.1515/etst-2015-0007Search in Google Scholar
di Giuseppe, H., and M. Serlorenzi, eds. 2012. I riti del costruire nelle acque violate. Rome: Scienze e Lettere.Search in Google Scholar
Ewell, C. 2014. “The Kiln at Cetamura del Chianti.” EtrStud 17:213–32.10.1515/etst-2014-0017Search in Google Scholar
Giontella, C. 2012. Nullus enim fons non sacer: Culti idrici di epoca preromana e romana. Biblioteca di Studi Etruschi 45. Pisa: Fabrizio Serra editore.Search in Google Scholar
Guiliani-Pomes, M.V. 1955. “Cronologia delle situle rinvenute in Etruria.” StEtr 23: 149–194.Search in Google Scholar
Maggiani, A. 2003. “Acque ‘sante’ in Etruria.” In L’Aqua degli dei, imagine di fontane, vasellame, culti salutari e in grotto, 39–44. Montepulciano: Editrice le Balze.Search in Google Scholar
Merhart, G. v. 1969. “Studien über einige Gatturgen von Bronzegefäßen.” In Hallstatt Und Italien. Gesammelte Aufsätze Zur Frühen Eisenzeit in Italian U. Mittleeuropa, 280-379. Mainz: Römisch-Germanishes Zentralmuseum.Search in Google Scholar
Minto, A. 1921. Marsiliana d’Albegna; le scoperte archeologiche del Principe Don Tommaso Corsini. Florence: Istituto Di Edizioni Artistiche.Search in Google Scholar
Minto, A. 1924. “Atti della R. Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.” NSc 21:25–7.Search in Google Scholar
Reich, J.J. 1980. “Excavations at Cetamura: Recent Developments.” ArchNews 9: 57‑-60.Search in Google Scholar
Romualdi, A. 1998. Una donna di rango di Populonia, tra la fine del quinto e gli inizi del quarto secolo a.C. Florence: Edizioni Polistampa.Search in Google Scholar
Stephens, J. 2008. “Ancient Roman Hairdressing: On (Hair)pins and Needles.” JRA 21:109–32.10.1017/S1047759400004402Search in Google Scholar
Tassinari, S. 1993. Il vasellame bronzeo di Pompeii. 2 vols. Rome: “L’Erma” di Bretschneider.Search in Google Scholar
Taylor, L. 2014. “Preface and Introduction.” EtrStud 17:111–20.10.1515/etst-2014-0010Search in Google Scholar
Wolf, D., and C. Lorber. 2011. “The ‘Galatian Shield without Sigma’ Series of Ptolemaic Bronze Coins.” NC 2011:7–53.Search in Google Scholar
© 2015 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Frontmatter
- Etruria in the Third to First Century B.C.E.: Political Subordination and Cultural Vitality
- Article
- Epigraphy in a Changing Society: Etruria, 301–300 B.C.E.
- Inscribed Identities: Figural Cinerary Urns and Bilingualism in Late Etruscan Funerary Contexts at Chiusi
- Greek Myth on Etruscan Urns from Perusia: the sacrifice of Iphigenia
- Religion and Industry at Cetamura del Chianti in the Late Etruscan Period
- Ritual and Industry in the Late Etruscan Period: The Well at Cetamura del Chianti
- After the Fall: Caere after 273 B.C.E.
- Etruscan Tombs in a “Roman” City: the Necropolis of Caere between the Late Fourth and the First Century B.C.E.
- The Etruscan Foundation Fellowship Awards Recipients for 2015: Research, Conservation, and Fieldwork
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Frontmatter
- Etruria in the Third to First Century B.C.E.: Political Subordination and Cultural Vitality
- Article
- Epigraphy in a Changing Society: Etruria, 301–300 B.C.E.
- Inscribed Identities: Figural Cinerary Urns and Bilingualism in Late Etruscan Funerary Contexts at Chiusi
- Greek Myth on Etruscan Urns from Perusia: the sacrifice of Iphigenia
- Religion and Industry at Cetamura del Chianti in the Late Etruscan Period
- Ritual and Industry in the Late Etruscan Period: The Well at Cetamura del Chianti
- After the Fall: Caere after 273 B.C.E.
- Etruscan Tombs in a “Roman” City: the Necropolis of Caere between the Late Fourth and the First Century B.C.E.
- The Etruscan Foundation Fellowship Awards Recipients for 2015: Research, Conservation, and Fieldwork
