Day 12 - Orvieto to Pompei

Day 12 - Orvieto to Pompei

Today we traveled from Orvieto to Pompei. Along the way we said "goodbye" literally and figuratively to our Etruscan friends. We stopped by the Etruscan city of Tarquinia, which is along the west coast of Italy, just north of Rome. Tarquinia is known for its famous necropolis/tombs. Unlike the ones at Orvieto, Tarquinia's are well preserved, especially the painted frescos on the walls. Approximately 6000 tombs have been discovered, approximately 20 of which have been preserved and are available to visit in Tarquinia. 


We had a guide for the morning, Serena, an archaeologist who studied in Rome. She guided us through the various tombs (about 22 are accessible at the site). She also took us through the Etruscan museum in town. After the discovery of the tombs, many of the artifacts were removed so they could be studied and displayed. As noted below, most of the frescos remain in the tombs.





Most of the tombs are quite small, just a single room. Others are larger, multiroom tombs. The frescos show things like dancing, celebrations, and games which archeologists believe show the funeral rituals of the Etruscans in the earlier years. Later tombs show a more somber note, which historians believe is due to the era post Roman conquering,  The tombs all have somewhat common themes, but also differ. Those differences are used to name the tombs. They are given names like “The Tomb of the Blue Demons”, and “Tomb of the Leopard”, due to the various painted depictions on the walls.

What they think most tomb entrances looked like. 

A multi-room tomb. 




The tomb rooms were only for the wealthy. 
Poor people used containers like these. 

Much of what we "know" about Etruscans is based on these tombs. Etruscans didn't leave any documents for later generations to study (or we have not found them yet). So we are left to "guess" what life was like based on the graves and the paintings. The graves are also filled with various items from the day-to-day life of the person being buried. Pottery, jewels, etc. give us a clue as to what their life was like, and what they thought they needed to take into the afterlife.




The burial coffins are also quite interesting. They are ornately carved in stone (a few are marble) with an image of the person carved in the lid.





Tomorrow we tour both Pompei and Herculaneum, Roman towns destroyed and preserved by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD

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