Produzione per gli dei nel santuario dell'acropoli di Volterra

The findings from the Etruscan sanctuary of the acropolis of Volterra reveal different aspects of production. These activities can be divided into two categories: the sanctuary as a client and the sanctuary as producer in its own right. The first category includes important phenomena, such as the arrival of foreign craftsmen to build the valuable coverings of the main temples of the sanctuary between the end of the 6th and the middle of the 2nd centuries BC. Other specialist commissions include services of fine tableware for ceremonial use, especially cups, which were produced by the flourishing local workshops. The self-produced items include objects manufactured inside the sanctuary itself, which were used for both the construction and maintenance of the buildings and for religious practices and the daily activities of the sanctuary: i.e. handmade pottery, loom weights, small objects and tools manufactured with moulds. New data relating to the production overseen directly by the sanctuary come from the manufacturing areas situated outside the religious space, where recent excavations have identified the partial remains of terracotta kilns as well as metal objects, tools and waste relating to production processes, such as slag and mould sherds.