La via Caere-Pyrgi all'epoca di Thefarie Velianas. Il santuario di Montetosto

The Montetosto locality lies 4 km to the west of Caere and is located along the road that connected the city to its main harbour, Pyrgi. Until 1962 the locality was known only for the considerably large tumulus (60 m in diameter) excavated by Raniero Mengarelli (1924-1929). The excavation of the area was carried out in three campaigns (1965, 1967 and 1969) under Giovanni Colonna’s direction and Francesca Melis’ supervision. The primary aim was to understand the plan of the discovered complex. Both the imposing structures discovered and the rich group of terracotta architectural decorations – in the Archaic period connected with the myth of Herakles and Busiris – testified to its monumentality. G. Colonna proposed relating the construction of the complex to the funerary cult, created to expiate the guilt of the Phocaeans stoned to death after the Alalia battle (540 BC), still performed by the Caeretans in Herodotus’ time (Herod. I. 167). This paper focuses on the role of the Montetosto sanctuary in the context of the Caere-Pyrgi road, one of the most important Caere’s engineering works, directly linking the town to its harbour with a substantial straight layout, comparable to the road connecting Athens to the Pireus as well for its ideological meaning.