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The Mute Statues Speak: The Archaic Period Acroteria from Poggio Civitate (Murlo)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2017

Eóin O'Donoghue
Eóin O'Donoghue*
Affiliation:
Classics, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland
*
[email: [email protected]]
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Abstract

Poggio Civitate has made an important contribution to the understanding of domestic architecture in pre-Roman central Italy since excavations commenced in 1966 uncovering two phases of monumental architecture. Interpretations of the site have been varied, with suggestions that it was the seat of a north Etruscan league or the base of a local élite family. This study argues that it was the latter, based upon an analysis of the famous ‘cowboy’ statue acroteria from the Archaic period complex. It is argued that the statues, as ancestral figures of the élite inhabitants, personified their wealth and power. The complex, and acroteria more generally, had a powerful psychological effect on those living within it, but more importantly those living in the surrounding territory. In addition the building is placed within its physical and socio-political landscape of north inland Etruria

Depuis que deux phases d'architecture monumentale ont été découvertes lors des fouilles qui ont débuté en 1966, Poggio Civitate a largement contribué à la compréhension de l'architecture domestique en Italie centrale préromaine. Les interprétations du site ont été diverses; on a proposé entre autres qu'il s'agissait du siège d'une ligue étrusque du nord, où de la base d'une famille appartenant à l'élite locale. Nous optons ici pour la dernière suggestion, suivant l'analyse de la fameuse statue-acrotère du ‘cowboy’ provenant du complexe de la période archaïque. On fait valoir que les statues, comme figures ancestrales des habitants appartenant à l'élite, personnifiaient leur richesse et leur pouvoir. Le complexe avec les acrotères en général avait un puissant effet psychologique sur ceux vivant dans son sein, mais plus encore sur ceux habitant les territoires environnants. De plus, l'édifice est placé dans son contexte physique et sociopolitique de l'Etrurie intérieure du nord. Translation by Isabelle Gerges.

Zusammenfassung

Zusammenfassung

Poggio Civitate hat seit dem Beginn der Grabungen im Jahr 1966, die zwei Phasen monumentaler Architektur erbrachten, einen bedeutenden Beitrag zum Verständnis der Wohnarchitektur im vorrömischen Italien geleistet. Interpretationen des Fundplatzes variierten u. a. zwischen der Ansprache als Sitz eines nordetruskischen Bundes oder als Basis einer Familie der lokalen Elite. Diese Studie unterstützt anhand der Analyse der berühmten sog. ‘Cowboy’-Figuralakrotere aus dem Baukomplex der archaischen Periode die zweite These. Es wird angenommen, dass die Statuen als Ahnenfiguren der dort ansässigen Eliten deren Reichtum und Macht personifizierten. Der Baukomplex und die Figuralaktrotere im Allgemeinen übten einen gewaltigen psychologischen Effekt auf die Bewohner und, was noch wichtiger war, auf diejenigen aus dem umliegenden Gebiet aus. Zudem ist das Gebäude innerhalb seiner physischen und soziopolitischen Landschaft im nördlichen etrurischen Inland verortet. Translation by Heiner Schwarzberg.

Keywords

architecturelandscapePoggio CivitateEtruriastatue acroteriaarchitecturepaysagePoggio CivitateEtruriestatue-acrotèreArchitekturLandschaftPoggio CivitateEtrurienFiguralaktrotere
Type
Articles
Information
European Journal of Archaeology , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , 2013 , pp. 268 - 288
Copyright
Copyright © European Association of Archaeologists 2013 

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