BASEMENT
The basement houses a lovely circular room with a central pillar known as ‘l’oliera’ (oil cruet) because it was originally used for preserving olive oil. The room presently displays materials from a necropolis (the Pedata) located just outside the settlement. Extensive nineteenth-century excavation of this lavish fifth-century BC necropolis led to the discovery of some of the most important masterpieces of Etruscan sculpture such as the Mater Matuta and the Gruppo Cinerario. This room also displays a remarkable covering stone, once circular, bearing depictions of young girls and griffins, lions and goats. Outside the room is a cinerary statue with the winged goddess Vanth who holds the scroll of fate of the deceased seated beside her while one of her wings seems almost to embrace him. This leads towards the building’s former cellars where the scenographic effect of the gallery in the sandy hill serves as an ideal setting for the reconstruction of seventh century tombs from the Foce-Tolle necropolis. There are striking reconstructions of burial tombs of various types (including ‘a ziro’ (a clay jar), chamber-hewn or ‘a cassone’ (individual rather than a family grave) with the mysterious human-shaped funerary urns known as Canopic vases. The highlight of the final part of this gallery is the impressive figure of the Mater Matuta which serves as introduction to women in Etruscan society illustrating the important role held by women in contrast to other contemporary civilizations. The last room on the floor contains articles donated to the museum from wonderful private collections, of which the Etruscan-Roman jewellery and the decorated Attic earthenware are of particular note.