La necropoli rupestre di Norchia (VT): proposte di conservazione e valorizzazione

The necropolis of Norchia, in the area of Viterbo (80 km. North of Rome), with its rock-cut tombs, is one of the most important archaeological sites of southern Etruria. It is an important and rare example of rock architecture and one of the few preserved in Italy. The necropolis is composed of rock-cut tombs of various types (façade, half-cube and temple type) and dimensions (4-10 m in height), extending over an area of more than 100 hectares. Built along the cliffs of three river canyons, the tombs of Norchia are distributed on two different levels, following the natural profile of tuff outcrops. Discovered in the early decades of the 19th century, the necropolis of Norchia (Viterbo) was systematically excavated in the 1970s by the Centro di Studio per l'Archeologia Etrusco-Italica del CNR, by Dr. E. Di Paolo Colonna and Prof. G. Colonna. In the book Norchia I, published by the CNR in 1978, the Pile A area of the necropolis was presented. The study of the necropolis of Norchia was assigned some years ago to Dr. Laura Ambrosini of the ISMA-CNR. The research is divided into two projects, for the publication of two books Norchia II and Norchia III, which are being carried out simultaneously. The first project is concerned with the Pile B area of the necropolis, while the second relates to the temple tombs (the socalled Doric Tombs) near the Fosso dell'Acqualta and their relationships with the rock-cut tombs of Turkey as those, for example, of Kaunos and Demre (in ancient Caria and Lycia). This study shows that urgent action is needed to preserve tombs from complete destruction. The research, starting necessarily from the archaeological study of the necropolis, provides a plan of conservation, promotion and fruition through new technologies