The Phenomenon of Terracotta

The Etruscan decorative spirit found one of its most impressive expressions in the roofs of baked clay that adorned houses and public buildings beginning in the third quarter of the seventh century bc. Thanks largely to the important excavations at Acquarossa near Viterbo and Poggio Civitate (Murlo) near Siena, an astounding assortment of terracotta roofs have been documented spanning the Late Orientalizing to Archaic periods (640/630-510/500 bc). Although early Rome, even under Etruscan kings, appears to have limited the use of decorated roofs to civic and religious buildings, while providing even the houses of important personages with undecorated tile roofs, more and more sites in Etruria are providing evidence for the early Etruscan practice of decorating even private buildings with elaborate terracotta roofs.

Archaeology · Art · Epistemology · Phenomenon · Terracotta · Visual arts · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Archaeological Research and Protection · Historical and Religious Studies of Rome · History · Philosophy