Camere funerarie ipogee e sarcofagi antropomorfi come emblema dello spazio della memoria gentilizia di Norchia

The Hellenistic rock-cut necropolis of Norchia (Viterbo), an important site in the Tarquinian area, with its dado and ‘semi-dado’ tombs, provides various documents on the memory of noble groups: on the platforms, with stone cippi and acts of worship; on the façades, with inscriptions mentioning the deceased and his family; in the recess under the façades, with the celebration of libations, funeral meals and the oer￾ing of ointments during ceremonies (in rare cases, perhaps, even through a “caditoia”); and in the hypogean burial chambers, with the representation of the deceased in anthropomorphic sarcophagi. In this study we will focus on the most important place of memory in Etruscan tombs of the Hellenistic period, that is, the hypogean burial chamber, where anthropomorphic sarcophagi were placed, carved in tu or nenfro by arti￾sans working in local workshops, and whose function was to make the deceased present not only physically but also through inscriptions that recalled name, gens, patronymic, matronymic, age and political oces held during life