Discovery Said to be Important Hub of Etruscan Civilization

The Etruscan civilization -- a rich pre-Roman Italic culture heavily infuenced by commerce with Greece -- has long been thought of as a loose collection of geographically distinct town-states dotted across central and northern Italy. Unofficial word enthusiastically bubbling out of Italy is that a newly excavated site could very well represent remains of the first known central "hub" used as a common destination uniting all Etruscan tribes in important religious events.

The discovery, reported on the Italian site CorriereDellaSera.IT, is certain to be the subject of great discussion and anticipation by the scholars and students of the Etruscan culture in the coming weeks and months. Following are a few excerpts from the article which can be found here in its entirety in an English translation:

"The amusing thing about this exciting story is that the heritage minister, Francesco Rutelli, knows absolutely nothing yet. Official notice to inform him is due to leave the university of Macerata only in late September. But for Etruscan scholars, this is extraordinarily exciting news.

"After six years of excavations and research, the department of ancient archaeological and historical studies of the university of Macerata is certain that it has located, on the flat Campo della Fiera area just below Orvieto, the mysterious Fanum Voltumnae, the federal sanctuary (“fanum” means sacred place, a much broader notion than a single temple) of the twelve Etruscan cities. It was a sort of Vatican, where each year the political and religious leaders of the Etruscan league met in “concilium”, as Livy describes it, to take political stock of civil and military affairs, and pray to the gods of Etruria.

"Today, it might be called a mass community event for it involved thousands of people. Priests, politicians, soldiers, worshippers, athletes taking part in the games, merchants and sellers all flocked to a huge fair that was well-known to the Romans. In fact, many traders set out from Rome to take part. This mass migration, which invariably took place in springtime, served to reinforce Etruscan roots and identity. The search for Fanum Voltumnae started in the sixteenth century, with the scholar Annio da Viterbo and his Historia Antiqua.Over the centuries, there have been hundreds of theories, but no certainties.

"The director of excavations, Professor Simonetta Stopponi, who holds the chair of Etruscan studies and Italic archaeology at Macerata, maintains with professional caution that absolute certainty will only come with the discovery of an inscription dedicated to the god Voltumna, the main earth god and patron of the Etruscans. “But”, she says, “it has all the hallmarks of a great sanctuary, of that precise sanctuary”.... Read the full account.