Iron and Wine: A Spatial Analysis of the Interplay Between Agricultural Tools and the Etruscan Banquet at Poggio Civitate

Abstract

In 2011, an iron tool was discovered lodged in the interior of a bronze cauldron which had been removed from inside the Orientalizing Residence (OC1) building at Poggio Civitate (Murlo) during the 1971 field season. Following the identification of the tool as a possible iron adze/axe (PC19711016), a presentation of the adze/axe along with the other iron objects found in the same spatial and chronological context is necessary to better understand the OC1 building and the daily habits of its ancient occupants. The OC1 building is one of three structures associated with the Orientalizing Period complex at Poggio Civitate and is understood to be the residence where the ancient aristocratic population engaged in banqueting, weaving, and displaying luxury status items of gold, ivory, and bronze. The inclusion of iron tools more strongly associated with agriculture in a traditionally elite residence sparked a series of questions about their original cultural significance in the employment of elite status symbols.This thesis analyzes the varying artifact types and contexts of Orientalizing funerary deposits in order to present evidence of the purposeful inclusion of iron adze and axe types as symbols of aristocratic authority over land and natural resources. The deposition of objects which represent elite identity and authority is commonly referenced as a clear indication in the archaeological record of social stratification. The inclusion of iron agricultural chopping tools such as the adze or axe in Etruscan funerary deposits indicates that the tool was considered to be a symbol of aristocratic power. In combination with other examples of elite iconography, the adze/axe at Poggio Civitate represents the ability to command non-elite members of the community to manipulate the land and its natural resources for the purpose of constructing large-scale elite structures.