Inscribed objects associated with textile production: News from Tarquinia

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 | This contribution addresses the perception of textile production in Etruscan society rather than analyzing the technical functions of related objects. It stems from the assessment of an existing link between semantic scopes that are only apparently different – textile production, writing, and religion – in which women undertake roles that are complementary to men’s. Evidence unearthed at Tarquinia by the Università degli Studi di Milano during current excavation at the ‘monumental complex’, and by the Soprintendenza Archeologica per l’Etruria Meridionale in the Monterozzi necropolis during the 1980s, provide a number of elements supporting this argument.