Etruscans Now etruscan figure

Cities and settlements

Click here to return to list of papers

Jane K. Whitehead -  Valdosta State University

The Structure and Function of the Cistern at La Piana

Recent excavations at La Piana, an Etruscan settlement of the 4th to 3rd centuries B.C. near Siena, have exposed a large circular vat with an interior diameter of about 4.5 m., located roughly at the center and highest point of the site.  This feature is constructed of dry-laid field stones in two concentric cylindrical rings with a metre-wide cylinder of dense clay packed between them.  This configuration brings the diameter of the whole to over 9 m.  The feature was built into the main structure at the site, Building A, and was roofed.  A central pillar of low-fired, porous bricks may have held up a roof that was constructed to trap and channel rainwater.

 

This paper presents the most recent hypotheses for the cistern's structure above ground and explores its relationship to numerous examples within a technology for which the Etruscans were well known, water management. Among all the hundreds of cisterns known from the Etruscan world, it is surprisingly difficult to find published parallels.

 

Click here to read the paper

Click here to return to list of papers