The Sanctuary of The Acropolis of Volterra: Dynamics of Occupation of the Sacred Space Between VII and I Century B.C.

The contribution aims to illustrate the topographical development of the sanctuary of the acropolis of Volterra in a diachronic vision. The area, the seat of a permanent settlement since the end of the Eneolithic, was chosen at least from the mid-seventh century BC as a representative place where to gather the religious demands of the entire community. The first temenos of the sanctuary dates to this period. In the second half of the sixth century BC, the sacred area housed a small building richly decorated by artisans from Campania. This is followed by construction of a large temple, probably of the Tuscanic type, in the mid-fifth century BC. In the late third century BC, the structural layout of the sanctuary underwent a grandiose renovation and expansion project. A new Tuscanic temple provided with a complex of precincts arranged in series on its front replaced the late archaic temple. These open spaces were used for worship operations by devotees, of which numerous testimonies have still been preserved in situ. The construction of a second temple alongside the previous one but different in size, façade orientation and plan completed the building program in the mid-second century BC. Another small building dedicated to Demeter at the southern end of the plateau scenographically closed the sacred structures' sequence. Subsequently, the sanctuary does not seem to have hosted further constructions. However, the frequentation of devotees continued, without interruption, until the Imperial Age. The concluding part of the article outlines the devotional practices and the deities venerated in the sanctuary. The temple buildings housed ancestral divinities, such as papa/apa and χia, while a goddess called ati and minor deities connected to the rural landscape received the devotion of the visitors within the precincts sector.