The 2,500-year-old paintings depict dancing figures, a flute player, and a metal workshop.
Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e PaesaggioThe Etruscan tomb uncovered at the Monterozzi necropolis near Tarquinia, Italy, features bright paintings on three of its walls.
Archaeologists have uncovered an ancient tomb adorned with stunning paintings in Tarquinia, Italy, within a larger Etruscan necropolis.
The Etruscans, a pre-Roman civilization that thrived in central Italy between the eighth and third centuries B.C.E., are renowned for their artistry, metalwork, and elaborate burial traditions.
While exploring newly-discovered tombs within the Monterozzi necropolis in 2022, archaeologists found yet another room hidden beneath a collapsed burial. Inside, they found vibrant paintings depicting dancers, musicians, and a rare metal workshop scene that may be linked to the Etruscan mythology.
Now, after two years of excavations and restorations, Italian officials have announced their remarkable discovery and revealed stunning details about the 2,500-year-old tomb:
Discovering The Ancient Etruscan Tomb In An Italian Necropolis
In late 2022, officials from Italy’s Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts, and Landscape traveled to the central Italian town of Tarquinia to examine cavities that had opened in the soil near Monterozzi necropolis. They discovered a series of tombs beneath the ground, and while they’d been looted during ancient times, one still held a priceless treasure: wall paintings depicting Etruscan culture.
Archaeologists kept the tomb a secret while they excavated it and worked to restore the paintings, but now they’re revealing what they found within — and on — its walls.
Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e PaesaggioArchaeologists have spent the past two years excavating the tomb.
The tomb dates to the fifth century B.C.E. Due to grave robbers, there were just a few pieces of pottery left inside, but the painted walls are still mostly intact.
The funerary art that adorns the tomb includes various scenes of Etruscan life and culture, providing valuable insight into the ancient civilization.
The Revealing Paintings Inside The Etruscan Tomb
Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e PaesaggioThe painting on the tomb’s left wall depicts men and women dancing around a flutist.
Three walls of the tomb are decorated with bright paintings, though one of them has partially collapsed, destroying the artwork it once displayed.
The left wall depicts two men and two women dancing around a flute player wearing a robe, while the back wall contains the figures of two more young men and another woman, who may potentially be the person once buried in the tomb.
Meanwhile, the right wall portrays a metal workshop. In Etruscan mythology, the god Sethlans was associated with fire and metalworking, so it may be meant to depict the deity’s legendary workshop. The painting may also indicate that the person buried in the tomb was from a metalworking family.
In a social media announcement from the Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts, and Landscape of Southern Etruria, Superintendent Margherita Eichberg noted, “The extraordinary level of the paintings is evident already in the first piece of restoration… which highlights the refinement of the details of the figures.”
Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e PaesaggioA closer look at the left wall of the tomb.
Archaeologists are still working to restore this newly-discovered tomb and uncover its secrets. The team has plans to build a protective structure around the site equipped with a door to control climate conditions. What’s more, experts are using advanced imaging technologies to identify missing or damaged pigments on the tomb’s walls.
Daniele Maras, the archaeologist who led the excavation, added to the announcement, “In decades, this is the first new painted tomb with a figurative frieze to be discovered in Tarquinia, and it promises to be very intriguing for its history, for the artistic level, and for some of the scenes depicted, which are unique.”
The long-term goal is to make the tomb accessible to the public, allowing visitors to experience firsthand the vibrant culture and legacy of the Etruscans.
After reading about the painted Etruscan tomb found in Italy, learn more about King Tut’s tomb and why people believe it’s cursed. Then, go inside 11 astonishing underground cities from around the world.
