A team of archaeologists has made an exceptional discovery in Italy: an intact Etruscan tomb dating from the 7th century BC and whose rich funeral material delivers a rare and precious overview of this pre-Roman civilization.
On July 15, the team of researchers from the International Archaeological Research Project of San Giuliano (SGARP), led by Baylor University in Texas, discovered a remarkable Etruscan tomb in the necropolis of San Giuliano, located in the regional park of Marturanum, near Barbarano Romano, 70 kilometers northwest of Rome. Exceptional for this region plagued by tombs since Antiquity, it has been inviolated for almost 2,600 years. Archaeologists were able to discover that she housed the remains of four individuals buried with more than 100 remarkably well -preserved objects. This discovery is considered one of the most important in recent decades for the understanding of Etruscan civilization.
The miracle of a forgotten tomb of the looters
« This completely sealed funeral chamber represents a rare discovery for Etruscan archeologyexplains Professor Davide Zori who directs the SGARP. In the hilly region of the center of Italy, where the team works, a preserved chamber of this age has never been searched with modern archaeological techniques. “Since the launch of the project, the team has listed more than 600 tombs on the archaeological site of the San Giuliano plateau. All the other previously identified chamber tombs were looted over the centuries, this from the Roman occupation at the end of the third century BC.
The team of SGARP researchers, directed by Davide Zori, is about to remove the stone slab which has been protecting the entrance to the tomb for more than 2,600 years. © Sgarp / Jerolyn Morrison
By exploring the tomb that remained intact, archaeologists were able to inventory a hundred objects, such as ceramic vases, bronze ornaments, iron weapons or delicate silver hair accessories. The preliminary analysis of this rich funeral material suggests that buried individuals, on stone beds, could be two couples each formed of a man and a woman, but an anthropological, isotopic and genetic study of the remains said to be carried out to confirm this hypothesis.
The Etrusquo-Corinthian vases discovered in the tomb of San Giuliano by the SGARP team. © SGARP
Towards a better understanding of the Etruscan funeral and religious rites
Fascinating people of the ancient Mediterranean, the Etruscans have developed a refined and flourishing civilization at the center of the Italian peninsula, between the 9th and the 1st century BC. AD organized in autonomous cities-states, its peoples excelled in maritime trade (in particular with Greece, Egypt and the East), metallurgy and the arts. Their society, whose peak is located between the 8th and the 3rd century BC, was distinguished by the emancipated role of women, complex religious practices (divination, elaborate funeral rites) and a sophisticated art of living in which the banquet ritual took a preponderant place in particular.
3D modeling of the invited tomb discovered in 2025 in San Giuliano © SGARP
Gradually absorbed by Rome, the Etruscans bequeathed to him a rich cultural, religious and political heritage before disappearing definitively in the 1st century BC. AD for Davide Zori, the discovery of this preserved tomb of time in San Giuliano “is a unique opportunity to study the funeral beliefs and traditions of this fascinating culture ». The Etruscans were indeed considered to be ” The most religious people in the ancient world “, As they sacrificed to many rites, parties and traditions and excelled in the practice of divinatory arts. Their funeral rites were also very codified.