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Archaic Gorgonian Plaques
Excavation at Poggio Civitate has revealed an Archaic Etruscan building complex along with scattered earlier remains dating to the Orientalizing period, an approximate span of one hundred years, from mid eighth -mid seventh century B.C.E., where Greek art was influenced by Egyptian, Near-Eastern, Eastern myths, ideas and decorative techniques.

Building Complex Plan: the largest known building of its kind in the Mediterranean has a central courtyard and is surrounded by a series of buildings in a close approximation to a square formation with each side measuring 60 meters, covering 3,600 meters squared on the Piano del Torso. Initially the building was credited as civic or religious, however, current thinking leans to it being a monumental sanctuary. Debris piles have revealed elaborate terracotta revetments. These revetments were decorative pieces attached to the Etruscan clay roof as a protection spirit. Excavations at Poggio Civitate and Acquarossa,_Italy have enabled archeologists to collect numerous examples from the Late Orientalizing to the early Archaic periods (640-500 B.C.E.). The archaic structure stood until the third quarter of the sixth century when it was deliberately destroyed. The architectural terracotta figurines were placed into dumps designed to hold them. These dumps were then covered with layers of soil. Archeologists believe this was a ceremony to desanctify the building and make it off limits for the near future. This process seems to be associated with the rise of the Chiusi.

Decorative Style: Early evidence suggests that when Etruscan Kings ruled Rome these decorative pieces were only used on buildings of significant importance- primarily civic and religious buildings. Houses of important persons, nobility, were left unadorned. Recent evidence suggests that revetments have been decorating private houses in the early Archaic period. The white on red technique tile roofs can be linked to local pottery production. The human and feline heads,however, appear to be an imported technique with molds used as early as 630 B.C.E. Floral and figural plaques were added during the Late Orientalizing period, 640-600 B.C.E. Painted mold made reliefs in red, white and black characterize Etruscan roofs of the sixth century.

Gorgon Head Antifixes Description: Gorgons are typically represented with a wide mouth, pendulous tongue, flattened nose, fixed eyes, and clean incisions signal it was used as a protective spirit against bad/evil elements Poggio Civitate’s gorgon head antefixes are identical. Each has a trapezoidal shape, with a curve at the top. The greatest width is located at the base and is no more than 0.190 meters with a maximum height of 0.167 meters. The plaque has a thickness ranging from 0.450- 0.50. The gorgon’s nose is the only projection in the relief. The rest of the face is done in a shallow format. Hair can be seen in the relief as two coils forming an inverted widow’s peak with a slightly off center hairline part. The hair is tapered off to the ears where it then hangs down the sides in three locks that are delineated by grooves with the hair flaring out towards the base. The facial features are simple, yet well defined. The forehead is low and flat with a central depression that protrudes outward up to the eyebrows. The eyebrows curve from the top of the nasal bridge to the outer ear. The eyes are almond shaped and framed with lines giving the left eye a double appearance. The iris is defined by lines as well. The left side of the gorgon was designed by intent so that the- ear, eye,and fangs are slightly larger than the right. Many pieces have trace amounts of a dark, reddish vermillion paint indicating the pieces were painted, but the color scheme can not be determined. Some tiles have had a whitish color - raising the possibility of a white paint; however, it could also be a component of soil- results are indeterminate at this time.

Gorgon Head Antefixes Attachment: Two in situ intact gorgon head antefixes were discovered at Poggio Civitate. When plaques reached the leather hard stage, they were affixed to the roof’s cover tile creating a right angle rather than a perpendicular line. Wet clay was added to the joint to secure the plaques. The outside clay covering was smoothed to create a finished appearance whereas the inside view of the clay was left rough since it would not be visible. The upper tile tapers to a flange which allows it to be placed under upper tiles to provide a rain tight juncture. The mounting system of the gorgon plaques was not uniform; however, when the gorgons were hung it was possible to draw a horizontal line through the eyes of all them.

North Flank Tile Fall: located on an east-west line along the north edge, approximately six to nine meters in parallel from the northern outer edges. This debris pile (as stated above appears to be deliberately created to hold these objects) has yielded: fragments of pantiles, cover tiles, ridge tiles, akrotoria, frieze plaques and antefixes. The lack of lateral sima fragments implies that gorgonia were possibly the primary decoration.

Gorgonia Numbers: The North wall runs a length of 62.25 meters with a pantile width of 0.54 meters which allows for a hypothetical roof hang of 0.5 meters at each end of the building. This formula projects 113 (plus/minus one) gorgonia. It is possible that other walls of the complex held gorgonia, but the absence of fragments and debris piles makes this difficult to determine. Archaic era gorgonia did not survive destruction (deliberate) of the building- only one has been found intact. The plaques appear to be weakest (as evidenced by break lines) at the lower end of the hair- leaving the gorgon bald. Some gorgon have lost part of their head from the forceful removal of cover tile. It is noteworthy that the gorgon’s protuberant nose was rarely destroyed (only two cases to date were sheared off). To date, eighty-two gorgon noses have been discovered. When the noses are matched with lower right hair-the cumulative number rises to 112.

Gorgon Production: Based on the north wall count of 112 and the premise that other buildings would have displayed gorgonia- the question turns to how they were made. Based on their uniformity it appears that molds were used to cast the gorgonia.Unfortunately no mold has been discovered to date. Based on the number of gorgonia necessary, it is reasonable to assume that more than one mold was used to increase the rate of production. Based on analysis of mouth and teeth, it appears that at least four molds were used. The exact number can not be calculated at this time.