Vivid Wall Paintings Unearthed at a 2,500-Year-Old Etruscan Necropolis in Italy
Found beneath an older tomb near Tarquinia, the painted chamber depicts several intricate scenes, including a metallurgical workshop
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Researchers in Italy have discovered a rare painted tomb carved into the rocky ground some 2,500 years ago. It’s located in a necropolis near Tarquinia, a city famous for its burials belonging to the Etruscans, an ancient Italian civilization that prospered before the rise of Rome.
According to a translated statement from Italy’s Ministry of Culture, researchers discovered the painted chamber behind another tomb’s collapsed wall in 2022. The room was filled with earth and debris, and the team excavated it in secret to prevent tomb raiders from interfering.
The tomb dates to the fifth century B.C.E., as excavation leader Daniele Federico Maras, the director of the National Archaeological Museum of Florence, says in the statement. Researchers also found grave goods that are a century older, but these likely fell into the chamber from the tomb above.
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“The superimposition of structures created a complex archaeological situation, … complicating the stratigraphy of the site,” writes La Brújula Verde’s Guillermo Carvajal. “However, the remains of red-figure ceramics found among the rubble attest to the richness of the original grave goods of the newly discovered tomb.”
The researchers were particularly intrigued by the tomb’s vibrant murals. The chamber’s left wall features an image of men and women dancing around a flute player, while its back wall shows a woman (who might be the deceased) and two young men.
The mural on the right wall is a crusted-over scene of a metallurgical workshop. As the ministry writes, it may represent the laboratory of Sethlans—the Etruscan god of metalwork—but it more likely depicts the workshop of the family that owned the tomb.
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“The inclusion of a unique scene of smithy in the painted decoration of one wall allows us to have a glimpse of the economic sources of the wealth of this family, which was evidently involved in [the] metal management business,” Maras tells Live Science’s Owen Jarus.
The researchers think the dancing scene may depict the funeral of the deceased. Maras tells Live Science that similar paintings “have been interpreted by scholars as referring to the ceremonies occurring at the funeral.”
Located about 45 miles northwest of Rome, Tarquinia is known for its Etruscan cemetery, which is considered a UNESCO World Heritage site. The necropolis contains more than 6,000 graves cut into rock, including 200 painted tombs, and its oldest tomb dates to the seventh century B.C.E.
As Maras says in the statement, discoveries such as this one haven’t been made in Tarquinia for decades. Additionally, the chamber’s “figural decoration” makes it especially rare, as only a few dozen tombs in the area contain similar scenes of “banqueting, dances, sports, myths and the underworld,” as he tells Live Science.
According to the ministry’s superintendent, Margherita Eichberg, the tomb’s paintings are currently being restored by experts to bring their refined details to light. Researchers will also use advanced imaging techniques to see the ancient murals’ lost colors.
