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Sounds of Etruria: aural characteristics of the Tomba dell'Orco, Tarquinia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 August 2021

Jacqueline K. Ortoleva Open the ORCID record for Jacqueline K. Ortoleva [Opens in a new window]
Jacqueline K. Ortoleva*
Affiliation:
Department of Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology, University of Birmingham, UK (✉ jxo644@bham.ac.uk)
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Abstract

This article presents the results of an archaeoacoustic analysis conducted inside the three chambers of the fourth-century BC Etruscan painted tomb of Tomba dell'Orco at Tarquinia. Using digital sound samples and an acoustic recording protocol, the study demonstrates how, in some areas of the tomb, low-frequency sounds, such as drumming and chanting, produce lengthy reverberation times. These effects may have been associated with the natural rumble of thunder, which played a significant role in Etruscan society, as indicated in secondary literary sources and material culture. The study provides a more comprehensive understanding of the Etruscan tomb space, while identifying new avenues of research in pre-Roman and other ancient Mediterranean funerary contexts.

Keywords

ItalyEtruscan tombfunerary archaeologyarchaeoacousticssoundthunder
Type
Research Article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 95 , Issue 383 , October 2021 , pp. 1179 - 1194
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Antiquity Publications Ltd.

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