In France members of the National Institute of preventive archaeological research (Inrap) in the course of excavations on the island of Corsica found luxury Etruscan tomb dated V-III centuries BC.
The research report is published on the website of the Institute. It is reported that the tomb was discovered more than two hundred items, most of them are not purely ceremonial. The artifacts are now studied in the laboratory and cause all the more surprised.
Inrap said that the tomb was discovered in a place called Aleria Lamazone. She was deep underground, with the top covered later necropolis of the Roman era.
In the center of the tomb were found the remains of a woman. Her head was turned to the left. The fingers of the deceased was decorated with two gold and several bronze rings, and ears – a pair of gold earrings. The woman’s hands were outstretched along the body.
The deceased was surrounded by forty ceramic vessels, real works of art. It was vessels of various types, ranging from jugs to store drinking water to cups with big handles. Almost all of them are decorated with amazing paintings.
In the legs of the deceased were laid perfume sets. Here, scientists found two small glass bottle with remnants of black lacquer, two bronze mirrors and vases. A dozen bowls of different shapes and sizes were lined up along the left side of women that housed the entrance to the burial chamber.
At the moment, with the help of computer tomography are analyzed 22 items from the tomb. The first results have brought surprises. The scan shows what’s inside some of the other artifacts are.
So, inside one of the alabaster vessels the scanner picked up the metal rod. Scientists suggest that this may be a toilet needle, known by some Etruscan statues.
For example, stored in the Louvre a bronze mirror decorated with sculptures of winged deities, in hands which have a similar metal rod.
In one of the bowls with a scanner in a hardened residue of a substance was found a small bronze ring. It is identical to the other four rings found nearby. Also, researchers found that some of the vessels probably were originally placed in a wicker basket, which to this day have not reached.
Also in the laboratory, the researchers are trying to restore two badly-preserved mirrors, one of which was equipped with a bronze handle and the second bone. They were probably decorated with images of deities.
