New textile finds from Tomba dell’Aryballos sospeso, Tarquinia: Context, analysis and preliminary interpretation

Published in Origini n. XL/2017. Rivista annuale del Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità – “Sapienza” Università di Roma | Preistoria e protostoria delle civiltà antiche – Prehistory and protohistory of ancient civilizations | An intact chamber tomb dated between the end of the Orientalising and early Archaic periods (terminus ante quem 630-620 BC) was discovered in 2013 in the Doganaccia necropolis of the Etruscan city of Tarquinia. Tomb 6423, nicknamed Tomba dell’Aryballos sospeso, contained an inhumation of a female, as well as a cremation of a male, both accompanied by sumptuous burial gifts. Remains of several different fabrics were found inside two bronze objects associated with the inhumation, the pyxis and the basin. The bronze sheet pyxis contained both organic and mineralised fragments of threads and textiles of greenish and purplish colour, while among the organic contents of the bronze basin some open tabby fabric fragments were found. The paper presents the results of textile, fibre and dye analyses of these important new finds, and offers some preliminary thoughts regarding their possible function and significance.