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Preface Etruscan Culture as Represented in the Collection of the University of Pennsylvania Museum Because of the enlightened collecting policies of the Museum’s 19th century founders, the objects on display in the permanent exhibition gallery “Worlds Intertwined” were drawn mainly from relatively complete sets of grave goods from the necropoleis of Narce, Vulci, Orvieto, Chiusi, and Tuscania, as well as individual pieces collected in Italy during the 19th century. The finds from the excavated tombs date from the Iron Age through the 2nd century BC. When the grave furnishings reached the Museum, they were accompanied by documentation in the form of written descriptions, inventories, and/or record photographs of cleaned objects grouped by tomb. Although the excavators and intermediaries were careful to keep tomb groups together, in at least three instances, material from a single tomb turned up in both Chicago and Philadelphia. Objects from Tombs B and C at Vulci and from a tomb at Poggio Buco have been discovered recently in both museums, and these are noted in the catalogue entries. In addition to the commissioned groups and acquisitions from private 19th century collections, a loan of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman material was made by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the late 1920s and 1930s. This added a number of Etruscan objects, particularly pottery, and inventory numbers in the catalogue with the designation “L-n-n” identify this material. It may seem that some excessive details have been recorded about the original collection of materials, especially those from Narce, but our duty is to preserve all possible information associated with objects that are now divorced from their homeland and original contexts. Jean Davison (1972:3–6) provides invaluable information on the minutiae of documentation of the Narce finds, such as the photo studio where the record photographs apparently were made prior to the shipment of the tomb groups to Philadelphia, and also the types of labels used on the 19th century pieces for shipment . According to the plea made by Ingrid EdlundBerry at the “Etruscans in the Museum” workshop at the annual AIA meeting in Philadelphia, January 2002, all scholars have a duty to record such data as the type of paper tags and labels, color of inks, and handwriting that is found on items from antiquarian trade. In the same session, Marshall Becker made the case for saving and recording the packing materials and other, seemingly modern, contents of urns and other materials shipped to U.S. collections, for comparison to other collections, and possible analysis and recovery of ancient substances. The book begins with chapters on Etruscan culture that link the objects in the gallery with their original chronological periods and with related areas of Etruscan society, religion, and art. The tomb groups are discussed in Part IB. Parallels for specific objects usually have been selected for the closest relationship to the catalogued item (same artist or workshop), the most thorough treatment of an artifact type, or the most recent reference which affords bibliographic background . The most recent bibliography has been preferred; however, older publications also are noted where they have defined a particular category of artifact or offer special insights. Within each section, artifacts have been grouped with all the other items from the same tomb or context. Where human remains are noted for a catalogued urn, they have been assigned the same inventory number as the urn and are stored in the Mediterranean Section. xiv Catalogue of the Kyle M. Phillips, Jr., Etruscan World Gallery A full study by Marshall Becker, Jean MacIntosh Turfa, and Bridget Algee-Hewitt is in preparation and will include all Etruscan and Italic skeletal materials and associated organic remains in the collection. The catalogue, Part II, is arranged in order of the thematic units in the gallery and presents vital statistics for each object: description, brief discussion of important parallels, and the place of this object or category of objects against the background of Etruscan material culture (or the social customs it expresses). Catalogue entries are indicated in the text by boldface numbers. No museum can ever display all of its holdings; the selection in the gallery is intended to afford visitors and students a glimpse of the variety and heritage of Etruscan culture, spanning nearly the entire 1st millennium BC. Scholars will find, in addition to displays of objects from Narce published by Edith Hall Dohan, items to add to the corpora of known materials (Orvietan tombs, inscriptions, helmets, gems, sculpture , pottery), and a few unusual...

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