Mamarce di Pyrgi e i pericoli del mare

A recent emergency operation at Pyrgi, carried out by the staff of the Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio per la Provincia di Viterbo e l’Etruria meridionale following a violent maritime storm surge, resulted in the recovery of various artefacts exposed by the sea within the occasional stratigraphic section present in the settlement area. Notable among these artifacts is a bucchero cup bearing inscriptions, symbols of varying nature and schematic depictions of boats, which is the subject of this study. The significance of the vase, which was rendered non-functional through the application of a siglum and likely used as an offering, derives from the attestation of an individual named Mamarce, perhaps a merchant resident at Pyrgi and previously known from a stone stele. This discovery provides a glimpse into the life of the port of Caere during the Archaic period, in a phase preceding the monumentalisation of the sanctuary.