Rock Tombs and Monuments in South Etruria and Anatolia

doi:10.1017/9781009151016.017

11 - Rock Tombs and Monuments in South Etruria and Anatolia

Typology, Chronology, Ideology – Differences and Common Elements

from Part IV - Shared Practices

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 March 2023

Stephan Steingräber

Edited by

Elizabeth P. Baughan and

Lisa C. Pieraccini

Show author details

Elizabeth P. Baughan: Affiliation:
University of Richmond, Virginia
Lisa C. Pieraccini: Affiliation:
University of California, Berkeley

Book contents

Get access

Summary

The inner part of South Etruria and several parts of Anatolia are characterized by impressive rock tombs and monuments. The highest concentration in Anatolia is found in Lycia and neighboring Caria, but they are documented also in Pamphylia, Pisidia, Cilicia, Cappadocia, Phrygia, Lydia, Paphlagonia-Pontus, and Urartu, ranging in date from the ninth through the eighth centuries BCE to the Roman period, with a remarkable concentration between the fourth century and the Hellenistic period. There is a rich variety in typology, architecture, and decoration, and in some cases also function. In Etruria the phenomenon of rock tombs is documented mainly from the second quarter of the sixth century to the early second century BCE in the areas of Tuscania, San Giuliano, Blera, Norchia, Castel d’Asso, and Sovana, and includes tombs of cube, house, porticus, temple, aedicula, and tholos types. But there are other rock monuments, such as altars, thrones, and stepped monuments. This chapter discusses both the main common elements and the many differences between Etruscan and Anatolian rock tombs and monuments, examining position, chronology, typology, architecture, decoration, function, and death cult.

Keywords

Rock-cut tombs rock-cut monuments comparative studies monumentalization temple tombs sarcophagi architectural facades tomb furniture

Type: Chapter
Information: Etruria and Anatolia
Material Connections and Artistic Exchange
, pp. 195 - 214

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009151016.017 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Works Cited

Ainsley, S. I. 1843. “Monumenti sepolcrali di Sovana,” Bullettino dell’Istituto di corrispondenza archeologica: 155–159.Google Scholar

Ainsley, S. I., and Dennis, G. 1843. “Monumenti sepolcrali di Sovana,” Annali dell’Istituto di corrispondenza archeologica 15: 223–236 and Monumenti inediti pubblicati dall'Instituto di corrispondenza archeologica 3: figs. 55–57.Google Scholar

Akurgal, E. 1955. Phrygische Kunst. Ankara: Archäologisches Institut der Universität Ankara, Dil ve Tarih-Coğrafya Fakültesi.Google Scholar

Akurgal, E. 1968. Urartäische und altiranische Kunstzentren. Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basimevi.Google Scholar

Alföldi-Rosenbaum, E., and Reynolds, J. M. 1980. The Necropolis of Adrassus (Balabolu) in Rough Cilicia (Isauria), Denkschriften 146. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.Google Scholar

Amann, P., and Ruggendorfer, P. 2014. “Le tombe rupestri a facciata della Licia e dell’Etruria: un confronto,” in L’Etruria meridionale rupestre. Atti del Convegno internazionale “L’Etruria rupestre dalla Protostoria al Medioevo. Insediamenti, necropoli, monumenti, confronti,” Barbarano Romano – Blera, 8–10 ottobre 2010, 406–428. Rome : Palombi.Google Scholar

Arias, P. E. 1971. “Sovana (Grosseto). Scavi effettuati dal 1962 al 1964,” Notizie degli scavi di antichità 25: 51–194.Google Scholar

Barbieri, G. 1991. Viterbo e il suo territorio. Rome: Quasar.Google Scholar

Barbieri, G. 2010. La Tomba dei Demoni alati di Sovana. Un capolavoro dell’architettura in Etruria. Siena: Nuova Immagine.Google Scholar

Baughan, E. 2013. Couched in Death. Klinai and Identity in Anatolia and Beyond. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.Google Scholar

Bean, G. E. 1978. Lycian Turkey. London: Benn and Norton.Google Scholar

Berndt-Ersöz, S. 2006. Phrygian Rock-Cut Shrines: Structure, Function, and Cult Practice. Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar

Bianchi Bandinelli, R. 1929. Sovana, topografia ed arte. Florence: Rinascimento del libro.Google Scholar

Borchhardt, J. (ed.) 1975. Myra: eine lykische Metropole in antiker und byzantinischer Zeit, Istanbuler Forschungen 30. Berlin: G. Mann.Google Scholar

Brandt, H., and Kolb, F. 2005. Lycia et Pamphylia: eine römische Provinz im Südwesten Kleinasiens. Mainz: Philipp von Zabern.Google Scholar

Brocato, P. 1995. “Sull’origine e lo sviluppo delle prime tombe a dado etrusche,” Studi Etruschi 61: 57–93.Google Scholar

Bruns-Özgan, C. 1987. Lykische Grabreliefs des 5. und 4. Jhs. v. Chr., Istanbuler Mitteilungen Beiheft 33. Tübingen: E. Wasmuth.Google Scholar

Burney, C. A. 1966. “A First Season of Excavations at the Urartian Citadel of Kayalıdere,” Anatolian Studies 16: 55–111.Google Scholar

Carter, P. C. 1974. “The Tomb of the Siren,” American Journal of Archaeology 78: 131–139.Google Scholar

Ceci, F. (ed.) 2014. Dallo scavo al museo. La Tomba a casetta dalla Necropoli di Sferracavallo a Norchia. Un modello ri riuscita sinergia tra pubblico e privato. Prato: Museo Nazionale Etrusco Rocca Albornoz.Google Scholar

Ceci, F., and Schiappelli, A. 2005. Blera e le sue necropoli. Rome: Istituto poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Libreria dello Stato.Google Scholar

Çevik, N. 2000. Urartu Kaya Mezarları ve Ölü Gömme Gelenekleri. Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi.Google Scholar

Colonna, G. 1967. “L’Etruria meridionale interna dal Villanoviano alle tombe rupestri,” Studi Etruschi 35: 3–30.Google Scholar

Colonna, G. 1973. “Ricerche sull’Etruria interna volsiniese,” Studi Etruschi 41: 45–72.Google Scholar

Colonna, G. 1974. “La cultura dell’Etruria meridionale interna con particolare riguardo alle necropoli rupestri,” in Aspetti e problemi dell’Etruria interna. Atti dell’VIII Convegno di Studi Etruschi e Italici, Orvieto 1972, 253–265. Florence: Olschki.Google Scholar

Colonna, G. 1986. “Urbanistica e architettura,” in Rasenna, Storia e civiltà degli Etruschi, 369–530. Milan: Libri Scheiwiller.Google Scholar

Colonna, G., and von Hase, F. W. 1986. “Alle origini della statuaria etrusca: la Tomba delle Statue presso Ceri,” Studi Etruschi 52: 13–59.Google Scholar

Colonna di Paolo, E. 1974. “Osservazioni sulle tombe a dado con portico a Norchia,” in Aspetti e problemi dell’Etruria interna. Atti VIII Convegno di Studi Etruschi e Italici, Orvieto 1972, 267–272. Florence: Olschki.Google Scholar

Colonna di Paolo, E. 1978. Necropoli rupestri del Viterbese. Novara: Istituto geografico De Agostini.Google Scholar

Colonna di Paolo, E., and Colonna, G. 1970. Castel d’Asso I-II. Rome: Consiglio nazionale delle ricerche.Google Scholar

Colonna di Paolo, E., and Colonna, G. 1978. Norchia I-II. Rome: Consiglio nazionale delle ricerche.Google Scholar

De Francovich, G. 1990. Santuari e tombe rupestri dell’antica Frigia I-II. Rome: L’ Erma di Bretschneider.Google Scholar

Demargne, P., Coupel, P., and Laroche, E. 1974. Fouilles de Xanthos V: Tombes-maisons, tombes rupestres et sarcophages. Les epitaphs lyciennes. Paris: C. Klincksieck.Google Scholar

Dennis, G. 1848. The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria. London: John Murray.Google Scholar

Durugönül, S. 1989. Die Felsreliefs im Rauhen Kilikien. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports.Google Scholar

Er, Y. 1991. “Diversità e interazione culturale in Cilicia Tracheia. I monumenti funerari,” QuadStorici 76: 105–140.Google Scholar

Fleischer, R. 2009. “The Rock-Tombs of the Pontic Kings in Amaseia (Amasya),” in Mithridates VI and the Pontic Kingdom, Black Sea Studies 9, ed. Højte, J. M., 109–119. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.Google Scholar

Forbes, T. B. 1983. Urartian Architecture. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports.Google Scholar

Gabriel, A. 1965. Phrygie: exploration archéologique IV, La Cité de Midas, architecture. Paris: E. de Boccard.Google Scholar

Gargana, A. 1931. “La necropoli rupestre di San Giuliano,” Monumenti antichi 33: 297–468.Google Scholar

Giannini, P. 2003. Centri etruschi e romani dell’Etruria meridionale I–II. Grotte di Castro: Ceccarelli.Google Scholar

Haspels, C. H. E. 1971. The Highlands of Phrygia. Sites and Monuments. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar

Hellström, P. (ed.) 1989. Architecture and Society in Hecatomnid Caria. Uppsala: Almqvist.Google Scholar

Iacomi, V. 2013. “Local and Foreign Identities in Funerary Contexts: Self- and Social Representation of Indigenous Elites in Late Hellenistic and Roman Rough Cilicia. Rock-Cut Tombs and Necropolis, a Preliminary Survey,” in Soma 2012. Identity and Connectivity. Proceedings of the 16th Symposium on Mediterranean Archaeology, Florence, Italy, 1–3 March 2012, ed. Bombardieri, L., D’Agostino, A., Guarducci, G., Orsi, V., and Valentini, S., 275–283. Oxford: Archaeopress.Google Scholar

Jolivet, V., and Lovergne, E. 2015. “Architettura funeraria etrusca e palaziale macedone, la tomba monumentale rupestre di Grotte Scalina a Musarna,” ArcheoTuscia 1: 20–22.Google Scholar

Kleiner, G. 1963. Diadochengräber. Wiesbaden: Steiner.Google Scholar

Koch, H., von Mercklin, E., and Weickert, C. 1915. “Bieda,” Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Römische Abteilungen 30: 161–310.Google Scholar

Kolb, F., and Kupke, B. 1989. Lykien – Geschichte Lykiens im Altertum. Mainz: Philipp von Zabern.Google Scholar

Machatschek, A. 1967. Die Nekropolen und Grabmäler im Gebiet von Elaiussa Sebaste und Korykos im Rauhen Kilikien. Graz: H. Böhlau, Kommissionsverlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.Google Scholar

Maggiani, A. 1978. “Le tombe a dado di Sovana,” Prospettiva 14: 15–31.Google Scholar

Maggiani, A. 1995. “Tombe con prospetto architettonico nelle necropoli rupestri d’Etruria,” in Tyrrhenoi Philotechnoi, Atti della giornata di studio di Viterbo 1990, ed. Cristofani Martelli, M., 119–159. Rome: Gruppo Editoriale Internazionale.Google Scholar

Maggiani, A. 1997. “Variazioni sul tema della tomba a dado. La necropoli rupestre di Case Rocchi a Sorano,” Rivista di Archeologia 21: 38–43.Google Scholar

Marek, C. 1993. Stadt, Ära und Territorium in Pontus-Bithynia und Nord-Galatia, Istanbuler Forschungen 39. Tübingen: Wasmuth.Google Scholar

Moscatelli, G., and Mazzuoli, G. 2008. Le necropoli rupestri della Tuscia. Grotte di Castro: Associazione Canino Info Onlus.Google Scholar

Mühlbauer, L. 2007. Lykische Grabarchitektur. Vom Holz zum Stein, Forschungen in Limyra 3. Vienna: Phoibos.Google Scholar

Naso, A. 2016. “Tumuli in the Western Mediterranean, 800–500 BCE. A Review before the Istanbul Conference,” in Tumulus as Sema. Space, Politics, Culture and Religion in the First Millennium BC, ed. Henry, O. and Kelp, U., 9–34. Berlin: De Gruyter.Google Scholar

Niemann, G., and Petersen, E. 1892. Städte Pamphyliens und Pisidiens II. Pisidien. Vienna: Tempsky.Google Scholar

Öğün, B. 1978. “Die urartäischen Bestattungsbräuche,” in Studien zur Religion und Kultur Kleinasiens: Festschrift für Friedrich Karl Dörner zum 65. Geburtstag am 28. Februar 1976, Vol. 2, ed. Dörner, F. K., Sahin, S., Schwertheim, E., and Wagner, J., 639–678. Leiden: E. J. Brill.CrossRef Google Scholar

Oleson, J. P. 1982. The Sources of Innovation in Later Etruscan Tomb Design. Rome: G. Bretschneider.Google Scholar

Peschlow-Bindokat, A. 1996. Der Latmos. Eine unbekannte Gebirgslandschaft an der türkischen Westküste. Mainz: Philipp von Zabern.Google Scholar

Piotrovskij, B. B. 1967. Urartu. The Kingdom of Van and Its Art. London: Evelyn Adams & Mackay.Google Scholar

Prayon, F. 1975. Frühetruskische Grab- und Hausarchitektur. Heidelberg: F. H. Kerle.Google Scholar

Prayon, F. 1979. “Felsthrone in Mittelitalien,” Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Römische Abteilungen 86: 87–101.Google Scholar

Prayon, F. 1987. Phrygische Plastik: Die früheisenzeitliche Bildkunst Zentral-Anatoliens und ihre Beziehungen zu Griechenland und zum Alten Orient. Tübingen: Wasmuth.Google Scholar

Prayon, F. 1995. “Ostmediterrane Einflüsse auf den Beginn der Monumentalarchitektur in Etrurien,” Jahrbuch des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums, Mainz 37: 501–519.Google Scholar

Quilici Gigli, S. 1970. Tuscana. Rome: De Luca.Google Scholar

Quilici Gigli, S. 1976. Blera: topografia antica della città e del territorio. Mainz: Philipp von Zabern.Google Scholar

Romanelli, R. 1986. Necropoli dell’Etruria rupestre: architettura. Viterbo: Edizioni Cultura.Google Scholar

Roos, P. 1972. The Rock-Tombs of Caunus. 1. The Architecture. Göteborg: P. Åström.Google Scholar

Roos, P. 1985. Survey of Rock-Cut Chamber-Tombs in Caria. 1. South-Eastern Caria and the Lyco-Carian Borderland. Göteborg: P. Åström.Google Scholar

Roosevelt, C. H. 2009. The Archaeology of Lydia, from Gyges to Alexander. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar

Rosi, G. 1925 and 1927. “Sepulchral Architecture as Illustrated by the Rock Facades of Central Etruria,” Journal of Roman Studies 15: 1–59 and 17: 59–96.Google Scholar

Rumscheid, F. (ed.) 2009. Die Karer und die Anderen. Internationales Kolloquium, Berlin 2005. Bonn: Habelt.Google Scholar

Santella, L. 1981. Blera e il suo territorio. Blera: Associazione Pro-Loco Blera.Google Scholar

Schmidt-Colinet, A. 1980. “Die Nabatäische Felsarchitektur,” Bonner Jahrbücher 180: 189–230.Google Scholar

Sevin, V. 1989. “Elazığ-Bingöl Yüzey Araştırması 1987,” Araştırma Sonuçları Toplantısı 6: 451–500.Google Scholar

Sgubini Moretti, A. M. 1986. “Confronti nell’architettura funeraria rupestre: qualche esempio,” in Architettura etrusca nel Viterbese: ricerche svedesi a San Giovenale e Acquarossa, 1956–1986, ed. Pallottino, M., 137–144. Rome: De Luca.Google Scholar

Sgubini Moretti, A. M. 1989. “Tomba a casa con portico nella necropoli di Pian di Mola a Tuscania,” in Atti del II Congresso Internazionale Etrusco I. Firenze 1985, ed. Maetzke, G., 321–335. Rome: G. Bretschneider.Google Scholar

Sgubini Moretti, A. M. 1991a. Tuscania. Il Museo Archeologico. Rome: Quasar.Google Scholar

Sgubini Moretti, A. M. 1991b. “Nuovi dati dalla necropoli rupestre di Pian di Mola di Tuscania,” Bollettino di Archeologia 7: 23–38.Google Scholar

Shahbazi, A. S. 1975. The Irano-Lycian Monuments. Tehran: International Communications.Google Scholar

Steingräber, S. 1981. Etrurien. Städte, Heiligtümer, Nekropolen. Munich: Hirmer.Google Scholar

Steingräber, S. 1985. “Felsgrabarchitektur in Etrurien,” Antike Welt 16(2): 19–40.Google Scholar

Steingräber, S. 1991. “Etruskische Monumentalcippi,” Archeologia classica 43: 1079–1102.Google Scholar

Steingräber, S. 1996. “New Discoveries and Research in Southern Etruscan Rock Tombs,” Etruscan Studies 3: 75–104.Google Scholar

Steingräber, S. 1997. “Le culte des morts et les monuments de pierre des nécropoles étrusques,” in Les plus religieux des hommes. Etat de la recherche sur la religion étrusque, Actes du colloque international, Rencontres de l’Ecole du Louvre, Paris 1992, 97–116. Paris: La documentation française.Google Scholar

Steingräber, S. 2001. “Gab es eine Koinè in der mediterranen Grabmalerei der frühhellenistischen Zeit?” in La peinture funéraire antique. IV siècle av. J.-C. – IV siècle ap. J.-C.: actes du VIIe colloque de l’Association internationale pour la peinture murale antique, AIPMA, Saint-Romain-en-Gal - Vienne, 6–10 octobre 1998, ed. Barbet, A., 201–206. Paris: Éd. Errance.Google Scholar

Steingräber, S. 2009a. La necropoli etrusca di San Giuliano e il Museo delle Necropoli Rupestri di Barbarano Romano. Grotte di Castro: Associazione Canino Info Onlus.Google Scholar

Steingräber, S. 2009b. “Etruscan Rock-Cut Chamber Tombs: Origins, Characteristics, Local and Foreign Elements,” in Etruscan by Definition. The Cultural, Regional and Personal Identity of the Etruscans. Papers in Honour of Sybille Haynes, ed. Swaddling, J. and Perkins, P., 64–68. London: British Museum.Google Scholar

Steingräber, S. 2015. Antike Felsgräber. Unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der etruskischen Felsgräbernekropolen. Darmstadt: Philipp von Zabern.Google Scholar

Steingräber, S. (ed.) 2018. Cippi, stele, statue-stele e semata. Testimonianze in Etruria, nel mondo italico e in Magna Grecia dalla prima età del Ferro fino all’Ellenismo. Atti del Convegno internazionale, Sutri-Villa Savorelli, 24–25 aprile 2015. Pisa: Edizioni ETS.Google Scholar

Steingräber, S., and Ceci, F. (eds.) 2014. L’Etruria meridionale rupestre. Atti del convegno internazionale “L’Etruria rupestre dalla Protostoria al Medioevo. Insediamenti, necropoli, monumenti, confronti,” Barbarano Romano – Blera 2010. Rome: Palombi.Google Scholar

Steingräber, S., and Prayon, F. 2011. Monumenti rupestri etrusco-romani tra i Monti Cimini e la Valle del Tevere. Grotte di Castro: Associazione Canino Info Onlus.Google Scholar

Steingräber, S., and Prayon, F. 2018. Monumenti rupestri etrusco-romani nel territorio dell’Etruria meridionale. Grotte di Castro: Associazione Canino Info Onlus.Google Scholar

Strathmann, C. 2002. Grabkultur im antiken Lykien des 6. bis 4. Jhs. v. Chr. Grabanlagen in ihrem baulichen und gesellschaftlichen Kontext. Frankfurt: Lang.Google Scholar

Summerer, L., and von Kienlin, A. 2010. “Achaemenid Impact in Paphlagonia: Rupestral Tombs in the Amnias Valley,” in Achaemenid Impact in the Black Sea: Communications of Powers, Black Sea Studies 11, ed. Neiling, J., 195–221. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.Google Scholar

Thierry, N. 1981. “Monuments de Cappadoce de l’antiquité romaine au moyen âge byzantine,” in Le aree omogenee della civiltà rupestre nell’ambito dell’Impero bizantino. La Cappadocia. Congresso Lecce-Nardò 1979, 39–74. Galatina: Congedo Editore.Google Scholar

Tobin, J. 2004. Black Cilicia: A Study of the Plain of Issus during the Roman and Late Roman Periods. Oxford: John and Erica Hedges.Google Scholar

Ussishkin, D. 1994. “The Rock-Cut Tombs at Van and Monumental Tombs in the Near East,” in Anatolian Iron Ages III: Proceedings of the Third Anatolian Iron Ages Colloquium, Van, 6–12 August 1990, ed. Cilingiroğlu, A. and French, D. H., 253–264. London: British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara.Google Scholar

van Hulsteyn, Y. 1981. “Urartian Built and Rock-Cut Tombs.” Ph.D. diss., Bryn Mawr College.Google Scholar

Von Gall, H. 1966. Die paphlagonischen Felsgräber, Istanbuler Mitteilungen Suppl. 1. Tübingen: Wasmuth.Google Scholar

Von Gall, H. 1967. “Felsgräber der Perserzeit im pontischen Kleinasien,” Archäologischer Anzeiger: 585–595.Google Scholar

Wurster, A. W. and Wörrle, M. 1978. “Die Stadt Pinara,” Archäologischer Anzeiger: 74–101.Google Scholar

Zahle, J., and Kjeldsen, K. 1975. “Lykische Gräber. Ein vorläufiger Bericht,” Archäologischer Anzeiger: 312–355.Google Scholar

Zahle, J., and Kjeldsen, K. 1979. “Lykische Felsgräber mit Reliefs aus dem 4. Jh. v. Chr.,” Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 94: 245–346.Google Scholar

Zahle, J., and Kjeldsen, K. 1983. Arhaeologiske studier i lykiske klippegrave og deres relieffer fra ca. 550–300 f.Kr. – Sociale og religiose aspekter. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press.Google Scholar