Interpreting Exotic Animals in Etruria: Why Species Recognition Matters

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Communities of Engagement: Incorporating Deep Time and Slow Science into Community Based Research Projects" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This presentation explores the roles of animals and fantastical beasts in Etruscan iconography from the Archaic to the Late Orientalizing period and the manner in which their misinterpretation, or complete lack thereof, affects our understanding of communities who inhabited very different ecosystems than today. Like many cultures without an extensive written record, the interpretation of iconographic depiction and symbolism is critical to our knowledge of Etruscan beliefs, customs, social institutions, and environmental values. Using case studies from the Villa Giulia and the National Archaeological Museum in Florence, we will examine the origins of these depictions. These animals may be crafted in a local setting, have arrived in Etruria by foreign trade, or they may be crafted locally but of an animal that does not live nearby, either from firsthand memory or from storytelling or oral histories of magical, powerful creatures, real or mythological. The media in/on which they are rendered and use context can inform our understanding of patterns of iconographic importation, and this potentially allows us to interpret their symbolic functions, either as local beings directly linked to local lifeways or as symbolic ideas within Etruscan culture.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• Communities of Engagement: Incorporating Deep Time and Slow Science into Community Based Research Projects

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 53253