The Tuscan Archaeological Service

The Florentine Territorial Area Directed by: Dr. M. C. Guidotti

H    O    M    E

The "tholos" of Montagnola at Quinto Fiorentino, explored by G.Caputo in 1959 and situated close to the Mula tomb, is a barrow tomb, formed of an entrance corridor and three funerary chambers: the two lateral cells are rectangular in shape while the central chamber is built in the form of a pseudocupola; according to the fragments of the funerary furnishings found here and the architectural style used for the structure, the tomb dates from between 630-620 B.C.

The tomb stands near the banks of the river Zambra and was originally delimited by large blocks of limestone which have since been used to build the farm terracing that lies a few metres lower down the valley. A large open corridor ("dromos") opens on the west side of the tomb and penetrates, first with large steps and then on level ground, deep (over 12 metres) into the centre of the barrow whose thick walls are built with huge blocks of limestone, according to the methods used for "Cyclopean" masonry. A doorway, with monolithic doorposts, leads into the covered "dromos" along a vestibule with a fake vault made of slabs of limestone that protrude progressively towards the interior until they meet: a monumental form of roofing that closely resembles constructions of the Mycenaean Age (the acropolis of Tiryns).

Two lateral doorways open out along the covered "dromos" and lead into rectangular cells, also covered with fake vaulting. The huge monolithic doorposts of the doorways are marked by several graffiti (inscriptions, figures, magic symbols). At the end of the corridor, an ogival doorway set in a very thick wall leads through a narrow passageway to the main funerary chamber, circular in shape, in the central part of the barrow. The ceiling is in the form of a fake cupola ("tholos") with the stone slabs of the walls protruding towards the interior in decreasing concentric rings. A square column in the centre bears the weight of the last square slab that closes off the top of the "tholos".

The organic unity of its design, the care taken over its execution and the metric proportions of the various parts of the Tomb of the Montagnola make it one of the finest examples of Etruscan architecture of the Oriental period. Although the tomb has been robbed at least three times over the centuries, many fragments of the objects among its funerary furnishings, all of refined artistic craftsmanship, have survived (the foot of an ivory stool, small open-worked plaques of bone, ivory statues, small alabaster vases, buccheri, an important gold fibula), and make it possible to establish that the mausoleum, built shortly after the mid 7th century B.C., was used up until the middle of the 6th century. The objects left for the use of the dead are for both for men and women and therefore leave us in little doubt that this was a family tomb.