Vaulted roof of an Etruscan tomb, built of blocks of tufa, in the Etruscan necropolis of Crocifisso del Tufo in Orvieto, Umbria, Italy.
Orvieto, Umbria, Italy: roof of a tomb in the Etruscan necropolis of Crocifisso del Tufo. The white marks are bird droppings; none of the tombs have doors, so birds can perch and roost in them. Interments took place in this Etruscan necropolis (‘city of the dead’ in Ancient Greek) from the 700s to 200s BCE, with the apex of its development in the 500s and 400s BCE. It is located on the north side of Orvieto, just below the tufa cliff on which the city is perched. The name of Crocifisso del Tufo derives from a church just above the tombs where a crucifix is carved. The tombs are of the chamber type and have a characteristic rectangular shape. These ‘cube tombs’ are grouped in blocks and arranged along a network of burial paths that form an orthogonal (at right angles) layout, with each block or lot defined by orthogonal intersecting roads. The tombs generally consist of a single rectangular chamber, although a few have two chambers. They were built of squared blocks of tufa, laid in horizontal courses in dry masonry. The roof was a pseudovault, formed of progressively projecting blocks. On top there was a crowning cippus (small pillar). Access was through a doorway closed by a tufa slab and sealed by stone blocks. The small chamber had benches, one on the side wall and one on the back wall, for the deceased and funeral furnishings. On the architrave or lintel over the entrance to each tomb, inscribed in Old Italic, the Etruscan language and script, is the name of the family buried there. The Etruscans were settled in Orvieto by the 500s BCE and named it Velzna (Volsinium to the Romans). It was one of the 12 cities of the Etruscan confederation. The Romans invaded the territory in 294 BCE and the city was sacked in 280 BCE. It remained uninhabited until the fall of Rome, with Volsinium’s inhabitants moving to a new city by Lake Bolsena. By the 400s CE, Orvieto was resettled as the ‘Old City’ (‘Urbs Vetus’, hence Orvieto). D0552.
Size: 4288px × 2848px
Location: Crocifisso del Tufo, Orvieto, Umbria, Italy
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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