The Rock-cut Tombs of Norchia: the State of Research

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. This is an important and rare example of rock architecture, one of the few preserved in Italy. The Norchia Project is focused on the study and the publication of the tombs of the necropolis called "Pile B" of Norchia (VT) in the book Norchia II. It concerns graphic and photographic documentation and the study of all archaeological finds from the tombs, and also the architectural study of the tombs dug in the period 1971-1974, along the "Fosso del Pile" (south-east of the city), in the central area, known as "Pile B". The project also includes the study and the publication of the Temple Tombs at the Fosso dell'Acqualta at Norchia (VT) in the book Norchia III. These rock-cut temple tombs have facades that imitate those of a Doric temple with pediments, friezes, protomi and acroteria carved into the tufa. Thanks to the drawings made by Canina or Ainsley, for exemple, not only the original design but also the state of conservation of the monuments in the 19th century is known. This is of the utmost importance seeing the poor state of conservation of the monuments nowadays. The rock-cut tombs are an interesting feature of Anatolian architecture in general. The aim of the study will be to compare the Etruscan rock-cut temple tombs of Norchia with the rock-cut tombs of Turkey (in ancient Caria and Lycia) and to point out the differences. The hub of this architectural model seems to me to have been Macedonia, home/heart of the kingdom that, with Alexander the Great, became an empire extending eastward to India