The Etruscan Necropolis of Macchia della Riserva/Pian delle Rusciare at Tuscania: a Preliminary Report

The purpose of this paper is to give a preliminary report of the CAMNES-LdM Excavation Project of the Hellenistic Etruscan Necropolis of Macchia della Riserva, Tuscania (VT, Italy). The Project, active since 2005, brought to the identification of two autonomous clusters of tombs, respectively situated in the Pian delle Rusciare and Pratino areas. The tombs are all carved into the volcanic tufa banks, and the tomb typology varies from underground chamber tombs to trench and loculus tombs. So far almost 40 tombs have been excavated, 11 of which belong to the first cluster, Pian delle Rusciare, subject of the present paper. Even if all tombs were violated in antiquity, some of them still preserved many artifacts belonging to the grave goods of the deceased. The most important discovery is a bronze mirror with engraved decorations; its main scene represents a hind nursing Telephus as a child, with 5 deities and a temple in the background. Two of the tombs also house three sarcophagi each, carved from nenfro (a grey volcanic stone). These discoveries integrate scholars’ knowledge about the importance, extension and location of Tuscania’s necropolis during the Hellenistic Age, and also give the opportunity to make new reflections on the population of the area.