Monterozzi Necropolis
About
A hillside cemetery above ancient Tarquinii held some 6,000 tomb chambers cut into the rock, roughly 200 of them painted, making it the richest surviving collection of pre-Roman tomb art in Italy. The site remained a visible, undisturbed feature of Etruria's landscape throughout Roman rule.
What happened here
The dead are outside the walls because the law requires it, so the approach to every town is lined with them. Tombs face the road in rows, grand ones in front and simpler markers behind, all of them addressed to the passer-by. Burial clubs let ordinary people and slaves pay a monthly subscription for a place in a communal vault and a decent funeral; the alternative is a pit. Families come out on anniversaries and at the February festival, eat at the graveside, and pour wine into a pipe set into the ground. Undertakers, stonecutters and letter-cutters work nearby and compete on price. Ground is bought by the foot, and the frontage on the road costs the most.
Sources
Nearby
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