The Altar of Grotta Porcina and the Visual Control of Rituals

Grotta Porcina, an Orientalizing period necropolis in southern Etruria, features an unusual, elevated circular base dating to the sixth century BCE located below the site’s main burial area. Visible from all areas of the site, the base was placed inside a theatriform-shaped structure and much like most Etruscan temples, is oriented toward the south. While often interpreted by scholars as a funerary altar, the base seems to represent a scaled reproduction of a monumental tumulus located 85 m from the altar. The reasons for the similarity between the two structures—one monumental and the other diminutive—are, however, contested. This paper addresses the dynamics of physical movement and perception as related to ceremonies conducted atop the Grotta Porcina altar. Utilizing data from a study of similarly dated tumuli from Cerveteri and Tarquinia, I argue that the change in size from the monumental tumulus at Grotta Porcina to the smaller-scaled altar was established to visually control ritual and ceremony performed atop the altar. The altar's southern orientation is further related to the need for illumination while performing divinatory rituals that required a view toward the southern part of the sky and to the motion of the sun during the daylight hours. A consideration of the altar's theatriform shape together with its southern orientation relates the altar to the conception of templum in Festus (Gloss. Lat. 157) as an elevated place visible from every part and from which every part is visible. The reduction of the scalar nature of the altar, in comparison to the nearby tumulus generates new questions regarding the adaptation and intentionality of scale with respect to the performance of ritual.