DISCOVERIES IN AN ETRUSCAN CITY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 241, 4 July 1908, Page 11

DISCOVERIES IN AN ETRUSCAN CITY.

; < ■ " " JEWELS OF THE DEA&: i" : ' Some ..interesting excavations ,are,;.now being carried out near Piombino, the site of the ancient Etruscan: city of Populohia ' (writes the Rome correspondent of the /'.'Standard?,' on May 16). -This-.is almost the only. Etruscan city known.to "have .been 1 built; oni,the. seashore, instead of; at ; the head 1 of - one of the beautiful, gorges that were, usually chosen by that istrange and wonderful people for their strongholds.. . It must have been a city of considerable importance, since it was the. only Etruscan colony that had its own coinage; Virgil said that Populonia sent help to /Eneas,' but other authorities gave the town a much later date, describing it as a colony from Volterfa. The earlier ascription, however, would appear to bo justified by the excavations' that are now being carried out, as, among the 64 tombs already brought to light, 'there-' are some Italic tombs of incineration, which undoubtedly date from the Iron Age, identical' with those found at Vetulonia, and containing vases and ornaments of the well-known type of "Villanova " ; there are also later tombs of inhumation at a great depth; then Etruscan tombs- with archaic objccts, ' and tombs with painted Greek , vases, which are as late as the third century'B.C. .' \'_ Among the tombs of tlio Iron Age there ia one in the shape of a cradle, containing' the remains of a small body, entirely covered -with little ornaments of bronzo and ainb'er. There are also examples of tombs of a later age, with lances and spear-heads of bronze, and one of the most noteworthy of these is that of a young girl, belonging to the "sacerdotal caste," as is proved by her rich ornaments and jewellery. Oil her left side was found a solid gold ring, magnificently preserved, and around her head was a gold diadem of exquisite workmanship, consisting of a central rose, from which sprang thick olive branches, terminating in iinely-carvcd human masks. This tomb contained ; also several bronze and terra-cotta' vases, and among the treasure trove of. this necropolis is a great collection of. helmets, .lamps, scarabei, statuettes, etc., which will, find their' final resting-place in the magnificent Etruscan museum of Florence. ' '•