DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.785#0224
122 CIVITA CASTELLANA. [chap. vi.
case, this would be probable enough; but around Civita
there are others in very different situations; and having
seen them on other Etruscan sites, far outside the ancient
walls, and in the midst of undoubted tombs, I have
not the smallest doubt of their sepulchral character.
Besides, they have, almost invariably, above the cone a
small niche of the usual sepulchral form, as if for a cippus,
or for a votive offering. I think it not unlikely that they
contained figures of stone or terra-cotta, probably the
effigies of the deceased, which were at the same time sar-
cophagi, holding the ashes of the dead—such figures as
may be seen in the Casuccini museum at Chiusi.
Instead of entering the town, follow the brink of
the precipice to the Ponte Terrano—a bridge which spans
the ravine, where it contracts and becomes a mere bed to
the Rio Maggiore. It has a single arch in span, but a
double one in height, the one which carries the road across
being raised above another of more ancient date. Over
all runs an aqueduct of modern construction, which spares
the Civitonici the trouble of fetching water from the bottom
of the ravines.
The cliffs above and below the bridge are perforated in
every direction with holes—doorways innumerable, leading
into spacious tombs—sepulchral niches of various forms
and sizes—here, rows of squares, side by side, like the
port-holes of a ship of war—there, long and shallow
recesses, one over the other, like an open cupboard, or a
book-case, where the dead were literally laid upon the
shelf,—now again, upright like pigeon-holes,—or still
taller and narrower, like the crHeauw in a fortifica-
tion. This seems to have been the principal necropolis of
the Etruscan city. If you enter any of the tombs, which
are all in the faces of the low cliffs into which the
ground breaks, you will find one general plan prevailing,
case, this would be probable enough; but around Civita
there are others in very different situations; and having
seen them on other Etruscan sites, far outside the ancient
walls, and in the midst of undoubted tombs, I have
not the smallest doubt of their sepulchral character.
Besides, they have, almost invariably, above the cone a
small niche of the usual sepulchral form, as if for a cippus,
or for a votive offering. I think it not unlikely that they
contained figures of stone or terra-cotta, probably the
effigies of the deceased, which were at the same time sar-
cophagi, holding the ashes of the dead—such figures as
may be seen in the Casuccini museum at Chiusi.
Instead of entering the town, follow the brink of
the precipice to the Ponte Terrano—a bridge which spans
the ravine, where it contracts and becomes a mere bed to
the Rio Maggiore. It has a single arch in span, but a
double one in height, the one which carries the road across
being raised above another of more ancient date. Over
all runs an aqueduct of modern construction, which spares
the Civitonici the trouble of fetching water from the bottom
of the ravines.
The cliffs above and below the bridge are perforated in
every direction with holes—doorways innumerable, leading
into spacious tombs—sepulchral niches of various forms
and sizes—here, rows of squares, side by side, like the
port-holes of a ship of war—there, long and shallow
recesses, one over the other, like an open cupboard, or a
book-case, where the dead were literally laid upon the
shelf,—now again, upright like pigeon-holes,—or still
taller and narrower, like the crHeauw in a fortifica-
tion. This seems to have been the principal necropolis of
the Etruscan city. If you enter any of the tombs, which
are all in the faces of the low cliffs into which the
ground breaks, you will find one general plan prevailing,