Unit ETRUSCAN STUDIES AND ITALIC ANTIQUITIES
- Course
- Archaeology and history of art
- Study-unit Code
- GP003434
- Curriculum
- Generico
- Teacher
- Lucio Fiorini
- Teachers
-
- Lucio Fiorini
- Hours
- 36 ore - Lucio Fiorini
- CFU
- 6
- Course Regulation
- Coorte 2025
- Offered
- 2025/26
- Learning activities
- Caratterizzante
- Area
- Archeologia dell'età pre-protostorica, classica e medievale
- Academic discipline
- L-ANT/06
- Type of study-unit
- Opzionale (Optional)
- Type of learning activities
- Attività formativa monodisciplinare
- Language of instruction
- Italian
- Contents
- The course is founded on the premise that the Etruscan city—an unmistakable expression of this people’s creative genius—cannot be fully understood without its necropolis “alter ego.” Tombs and necropoleis represent true “cities of the dead,” whose spatial arrangements, monumental character, and painted decorations mirror the very social, religious, and artistic dynamics of their urban counterparts. Tracing a trajectory from the earliest necropoleis of the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages, through Orientalizing and Archaic tumuli, to chamber tombs and Hellenistic collective burial grounds, the course will examine architectural typologies, funerary rituals, and grave goods as reflections of familial power and identity. Special emphasis will be placed on the painted cycles within tombs, the construction techniques of sepulchral structures, and the relationship between the landscape of the living and that of the dead. By means of a comparative study of the necropoleis at Cerveteri, Tarquinia, Vulci, and Chiusi, Populonia ecc., students will gain an integrated understanding of how the deceased individual and collective memory were conceived, celebrated, and preserved within Etruscan civilization.
- Reference texts
- Recommended Reading: Mario Torelli, Storia degli Etruschi, Bari: Edizioni Laterza (various editions). Mario Torelli, Il rango, il rito, l’immagine, Milan, 1997. Further suggestions will be provided during lectures.
- Educational objectives
- The course is designed to provide students with an in-depth understanding of Etruscan funerary culture by examining the various necropolis types, sepulchral monuments, and painted tomb cycles. Through the analysis of plans, sections, construction techniques, and stratigraphy, students will gain the tools to interpret funerary spaces from an architectural and structural perspective. Special emphasis will be placed on the study of rituals and symbolism associated with the cult of the dead, highlighting how funerary arrangements reflect power dynamics, family identity, and social networks.
- Prerequisites
- No prerequisites are required. It is presumed that students are already familiar with basic themes of the subject matter
- Teaching methods
- The course is organized as follows:- Lectures will deal with all the issues and problems regarding the Etruscology - Educational trip, that will allow students to verify on the spot what is illustrated during the lessons (optional)
- Other information
- Since the topics are of great importance, the student follows with great interest and usually reaches optimal votes if not excellent. The attendance is strongly recommended as listening to the lessons can be extremely suitable for better and more thorough knowledge of the themes that will be covered by the test exam
- Learning verification modality
- The exam includes only the final oral test consisting of a discussion-interview on the topics discussed during the course and examined in-depth through recommended texts.The test aims at assuring the level of knowledge and understanding, as well as synthesis, achieved by the student. Moreover, this interview will verify that the student is able to communicate, with method, propriety of language and of exposure, what he has acquired. The duration of the test varies depending on the performance of the test itself For information on support services for students with disabilities and/or DSA visit the page http://www.unipg.it/disabilita-e-dsa
- Extended program
- The course offers a systematic investigation of Etruscan funerary practices, beginning with the study of the earliest necropoleis from the Late Bronze to the Early Iron Age and following the progression through Orientalizing tumuli, hypogeal chamber tombs, and Hellenistic collective burial grounds. After reconstructing the funerary landscape and the criteria for site selection, the program delves into architectural typologies and construction techniques. Generous attention is given to the painted decorations of the tombs, analyzed within their iconographic cycles and in relation to the rituals and symbolism of the cult of the dead. The study of grave goods—ceramic, metal, and wooden—will illuminate power dynamics, family identity, and exchange networks within the Etruscan world. A comparative examination of the principal necropoleis will highlight both continuities and local specificities, and will conclude with an exploration of the transformations and reuses of funerary spaces during the Romanization process.
- Obiettivi Agenda 2030 per lo sviluppo sostenibile
- Quality education