The tombs of Banditaccia

Tomba dei Rilievi (Tomb of the Reliefs)

New Enclosure

Cut into the tufa in the late 4th century BC, the tomb belonged to the Matuna family, named in its inscriptions. Its large rectangular chamber was arranged for many burials: thirty-two place...

Tomb of the Five Seats

Old Enclosure

Dated to about 650–625 BC, this tomb lies within a mound more than twenty metres across. Its dromos leads to two side rooms and a main chamber. Five seats with footrests were carved in a row...

Tomb of the Capitals

Main Burial Road

Datable to the late 6th century BC, the tomb stands in a prominent position along the main burial road. A dromos with two small side chambers leads into the tomb's broad transverse atrium, w...

Tomb of the Hut

Main Burial Road

The oldest tomb in the great Tumulus II dates to the late 7th century BC. A long open-air dromos leads to two axial chambers. The first recreates a hut with a pitched roof and carved ridge b...

Tomb of the Moulding

Main Burial Road

Dated to the early 6th century BC, the Tomb of the Moulding is arranged like a ceremonial dwelling. A short dromos leads to a vestibule with side cells; two rock-cut thrones with footstools...

Tomb of the Greek Vases

Main Burial Road

Cut into Tumulus II in the second quarter of the 6th century BC, it has an unusually regular plan: two side cells off the corridor, a broad transverse hall and three rooms at the rear. Altho...

Tomb of the Arretine Vases

New Enclosure

Named after the Arretine-ware vases found among its grave goods. (Demo editorial content.)

Tomb of the Snakes

New Enclosure

Located along the road of the same name, Via delle Serpi, one of the necropolis' minor routes. (Demo editorial content.)

Little House Tomb

Old Enclosure

The Little House Tomb, dated to the early 6th century BC, faces a small square where several internal paths meet. Its plan is cruciform: arched openings lead from the vestibule into three ch...

Tomb of the Dolia and Firedogs

Old Enclosure

One of the four tombs in Great Tumulus II, it is named after two large impasto dolia used to store food and the firedogs found in the right-hand side cell. This “Firedog Chamber” was discove...

Funerary Couch Tomb

Great Tumuli Area

One of the four tombs inside Great Tumulus II, it was used between the late 7th and mid-6th century BC. Two side cells flank the dromos, which leads to a central chamber with funerary couche...

Tomb of the Sarcophagus-shaped Beds

Great Tumuli Area

Distinguished by its funerary beds carved in the shape of a sarcophagus, rather than the usual kline form. (Demo editorial content.)

Tomb of Marce Ursus

Via degli Inferi

Named after the funerary inscription identifying its owner, Marce Ursus. (Demo editorial content.)

Tomb of the Well

Main Burial Road

Named after the funerary shaft that characterises its structure. (Demo editorial content.)

Mengarelli Tumulus

Great Tumuli Area

Dated to about 550–500 BC, this great mound stands almost beside the Colonnello Tumulus in the area of the Great Tumuli. Mario Moretti identified it in 1947 while continuing work begun by Ra...

Maroi Tumulus

Great Tumuli Area

The Maroi Tumulus contains three tombs built over roughly a century, from the second half of the 7th to the second half of the 6th century BC. This long sequence makes the complex especially...

Polychrome Tomb

Via dei Monti della Tolfa

More accurately called the Polychrome Tomb, it is architecturally related to the cube tombs along Via dei Monti Ceriti. A short stepped corridor enters a chamber with benches, divided into t...

Colonnello Tumulus

Via dei Monti della Tolfa

The Colonnello Tumulus is distinguished by its monumental façade and encloses four tombs, like Great Tumulus II. The earliest, dating to the beginning of the 6th century BC, has a long dromo...

Great Tumulus I

Great Tumulus I belongs to the monumental core in which Caere's elites turned the family burial into a permanent landmark. Its circular drum and earthen mound distinguished an aristocratic g...

Great Tumulus II

About 40 metres in diameter, Great Tumulus II is one of Banditaccia's largest mounds. A tufa base supports a cylindrical drum decorated with bands and mouldings; a funerary altar was also ca...

Tomb of the Shields and Chairs

The tomb gives its name to a monumental mound about 50 metres in diameter, which also contains the Tomb of the Painted Lions and the Clay Tomb. Dated between the 7th and early 6th century BC...

Tomb of the Painted Lions

Cut into the great Tumulus of the Shields and Chairs and datable to the late 7th century BC, this is one of Caere's most important examples of Orientalising painting. A corridor about twelve...

Tomb of the Painted Animals

The earliest of the four tombs in its tumulus dates to the second half of the 7th century BC. A long stepped dromos with side cells leads to a circular vestibule once painted with animals in...

Ship Tumulus

The mound contains three tombs; the earliest, dating to the second half of the 7th century BC, gives it its name. Its plan resembles that of the Tomb of the Painted Animals: a long dromos wi...

Archaic Small Mounds Area

This is not a single tomb but one of the oldest sectors within the monumental enclosure. Archaeologists have identified late Villanovan impasto cinerary urns, trench burials and small mounds...

Tumulus of the Oracles

The Tumulus of the Oracles is recorded as an archaeological point in Banditaccia's eastern sector, near the Maroi, Mengarelli and Colonnello complexes. The institutional sources and UNESCO d...

Laghetto Necropolis

The Laghetto Necropolis is a burial sector, not a single tomb. It occupies the hill at the eastern edge of the plateau, between the Ripa del Manganello and Via degli Inferi, and is divided i...

Tomb of the Alcove

The Tomb of the Alcove belongs to the Tombe del Comune group, large family hypogea of the 4th–3rd century BC built when Caere was closely connected politically with Rome. The UNESCO dossier...

Tomb of the Sarcophagi

The Tomb of the Sarcophagi belongs to the Tombe del Comune, a group of large 4th–3rd-century BC hypogea outside the main enclosure. It takes its name from four white-marble sarcophagi origin...

Tomb of the Griffin

The Tomb of the Griffin is recorded as an archaeological point in Banditaccia's southern sector, near the Ship Tumulus and the Tombe del Comune area. The accessible sources consulted confirm...

Cube Tombs — Via dei Monti

Between the second half of the 6th and the end of the 5th century BC, Via dei Monti Ceriti and Via dei Monti della Tolfa were lined with cube tombs arranged in regular blocks. Each monument...