The tomb of the Duce (leader) of Vetulonia is of the
circular type: a circle of stones driven into the earth actually surrounded the
area of the tomb, in which various graves are found. The abundant trousseau,
which belongs to several burial places, was found distributed in four pits,
while a fifth was found empty and is thought to have been looted. Some elements
of the trousseau, currently kept in the storerooms of the Museo Archeologico
Nazionale (National Archaeological Museum) of Florence, indicate that the
founder of the family buried in this tomb was a warrior prince: this theory is
supported above all by the discovery of the remains of a cart inside the first
pit.
In another pit we find the probable name of the prince, Rachu Kakanas, preserved in the inscription on a fragment of a silver cup. Together with this fragment were discovered a magnificent bronze urn in the form of a hut covered in silver leaf (containing the remains of the cremated deceased) and a small ship in bronze of Sardinian production, decorated around the edges with little free-standing animals, which refers to the journey of the deceased towards l’Isola dei Beati (the Island of the Blessed). This nucleus of objects was completed by some brooches in gold, silver and elettro(an alloy of gold and silver) and some terracotta discs, a symbolic image of the military shield.
The last two pits housed abundant items for banquets in ceramics and bronze, some produced locally in Vetulonia, and others imported. Amongst the latter were found Siro-Cypriot pitchers and bowls and Greek earthenware, imported here thanks to the intervention of Cerveteri. Influences from central-North Europe are noted, on the other hand, in the largesitule (water buckets) in laminated bronze, local re-workings of models from the Hallstattiana culture (present-day Austria).
In another pit we find the probable name of the prince, Rachu Kakanas, preserved in the inscription on a fragment of a silver cup. Together with this fragment were discovered a magnificent bronze urn in the form of a hut covered in silver leaf (containing the remains of the cremated deceased) and a small ship in bronze of Sardinian production, decorated around the edges with little free-standing animals, which refers to the journey of the deceased towards l’Isola dei Beati (the Island of the Blessed). This nucleus of objects was completed by some brooches in gold, silver and elettro(an alloy of gold and silver) and some terracotta discs, a symbolic image of the military shield.
The last two pits housed abundant items for banquets in ceramics and bronze, some produced locally in Vetulonia, and others imported. Amongst the latter were found Siro-Cypriot pitchers and bowls and Greek earthenware, imported here thanks to the intervention of Cerveteri. Influences from central-North Europe are noted, on the other hand, in the largesitule (water buckets) in laminated bronze, local re-workings of models from the Hallstattiana culture (present-day Austria).
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