Caere/Cerveteri

Abstract

The Etruscan metropolis Caere, known to the Etruscans as Cisra (Greek, Agylla; Roman, Caere) was located in southern Etruria and had a commanding view of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Known today as Cerveteri (from the Latin Caere Vetus), the city is situated forty-five kilometers northwest of Rome and six kilometers from the Tyrrhenian Coast. Cerveteri is famous for its ancient tombs, numbering in the thousands and located in several necropolises—the Banditaccia, Monte Abatone, and Cava Della Pozzolana and the Iron Age necropolis of Sorbo. The numerous objects discovered in tombs demonstrate not only the wealth of the Caeretan aristocracy and its rich trade relations with the Greeks and the Near East but also the abundant talent of local craftspeople. Such tombs provide scholars with copious material reflecting daily life and funerary ritual. The architecture of Caeretan tombs reflects not only the homes of the living but also chronological and stylistic developments that span hundreds of years, making it one of the primary sites for understanding Etruscan domestic architecture. Late-20th- and early-21st-century excavations have revealed substantial civic and religious centers of the ancient city, confirming Caere’s leading role in southern Etruria.