Caere

"Caere manages to put everything an Etruscan scholar ever needed to know about researching Caere into one place and is therefore unique in our field. It will become the definitive book on the site of Caere, and it is also highly useful as a microcosm for understanding the Etruscans in general. This is perhaps the greatest array of living Etruscan scholars that has ever been put together in one work." -- David Soren, Regents Professor of Anthropology and Classics, University of Arizona, and former editor of the journal Etruscan Studies "Caere is important for experts in Etruscan archaeology because it brings under one roof the latest published research on the material culture of Caere and will certainly represent an immensely useful tool for our own studies. There is no doubt, therefore, that the book represents a significant contribution to the field. This is also the case for Mediterranean archaeology, where scholars specializing in specific regions of the basin always need access to up-to-date and in-depth investigations of single sites outside their own region." -- Corinna Riva, Senior Lecturer in Mediterranean Archaeology, University College London, and author of The Urbanisation of Etruria: Funerary Practices and Social Change, 700-600 BC

The inaugural volume in the Cities of the Etruscans series, edited by Nancy Thomson de Grummond and Lisa Pieraccini, this book presents a comprehensive study of the city of Caere by an international group of scholars.

The Etruscan city of Caere and eleven other Etruscan city-states were among the first urban centers in ancient Italy. Roman descriptions of Etruscan cities highlight their wealth, beauty, and formidable defenses. Although Caere left little written historical record outside of funerary inscriptions, its complex story can be deciphered by analyzing surviving material culture, including architecture, tomb paintings, temples, sanctuaries, and materials such as terracotta, bronze, gold, and amber found in Etruscan crafts. Studying Caere provides valuable insight not only into Etruscan history and culture but more broadly into urbanism and the development of urban centers across ancient Italy.

Comprehensive in scope, Caere is the first English-language book dedicated to the study of its eponymous city. Collecting the work of an international team of scholars, it features chapters on a wide range of topics, such as Caere’s formation and history, economy, foreign relations, trade networks, art, funerary traditions, built environment, religion, daily life, and rediscovery. Extensively illustrated throughout, Caere presents new perspectives on and analysis of not just Etruscan civilization but also the city’s role in the wider pan-Mediterranean basin.