Stone sarcophagi of Etruria: renewing research in the digital era

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Stone sarcophagi are one of the most important witnesses of Etruscan funerary art and craftmanship. Although a few examples are attested between the 8th and the 5th centuries BC (Orientalist, Archaic and Classical periods), most of the production dates from the 4th-2nd centuries BC (Hellenistic period) and is mainly distributed in the necropolises of the southern Etruria (northern Lazio), and more specifically in the territory of the city of Tarquinia. The reference publication on these objects dates from the mid-20th century and concerns only Hellenistic decorated pieces, studied through the prism of art history (iconography, stylistics); it was expanded in 1974 and 2004 to form a corpus of ca. 420 decorated sarcophagi well preserved. The undecorated specimens have never been taken into consideration, even though they represent between half and two third of the Etruscan stone sarcophagi of this period. The earliest examples have never been the subject of a synthetic study any more. The SETRU-2.0 project aims to fill the gaps in research on all Etruscan stone sarcophagi and to establish a new reference publication that goes beyond artistic and stylistic considerations, through a complete inventory these objects and a methodological guide applicable to future discoveries and other type of handmade products. Its originality lies in the fact that it considers the entire production (from the 8th to the 2nd century BC; sarcophagi whole or fragmentary, decorated or not, painted or not, inscribed or not, of fine or coarse workmanship), on a global and interdisciplinary approach (archaeology, art history, epigraphy, geology, anthropology, etc.), and on the implementation of a specific methodology, from the study of tool marks to the use of 2.5 and 3D surveying (RTI, photogrammetry, lasergrammetry) and analysis tools and techniques (GIS, 3D modelling). This project is definitively innovative for this class of object and more widely in Etruscology.