Signs of the sacred at the sanctuary of Gravisca, Italy: reconstruction of an Etruscan ritual through a multidisciplinary approach

Abstract

Archaeological campaigns carried out at the emporic sanctuary of Gravisca (Tarquinia, Italy) have revealed extraordinary evidence for ritual depositions and ceremonies linked to the divinities/guarantors of the sanctuary. The ritual of one such deposition was reconstructed using a multidisciplinary approach, comprising an in-depth analysis of the stratigraphy and archaeobotanical and lipid biomolecular techniques. This approach helped to define the possible sequence of events and human actions that occurred during the ritual, the animal and plant offerings, how these were processed, and the season during which the ceremony took place. Lipid biomolecular analysis also suggested the presence of garum, which to date is the earliest evidence for its use in the Mediterranean area.