HOUSE URNS AND ETRUSCAN TOMB PAINTING: TRADITION VERSUS INNOVATION IN THE NINTH-SEVENTH CENTURIES BC

The first painted tombs in Etruria date to about 675–650 BC, as attested by a few examples at Veii and Caere, which pre‐date those of Tarquinia (mainly sixth–third centuries BC). At first glance, tomb painting has no obvious connection with the Early Iron Age or Villanovan period (tenth/ninth–eighth centuries BC), when burial in shaft or trench graves predominated. Nevertheless, some links can be suggested with Villanovan house urns, which reinforce the point that indigenous traditions merit greater consideration than is usual in discussions of Etruscan artistic and cultural development.