LAZIO, ITALY—According to a statement released by the University of Freiburg, an Etruscan temple was discovered in west-central Italy at the ancient city of Vulci by Mariachiara Franceschini of the University of Freiburg and Paul P. Pasieka of the University of Mainz during a survey employing ground penetrating radar. The building stood to the west of the Tempio Grande, a temple discovered at the site in the 1950s. Partial excavation of the newly discovered structure, which is thought to have been built at the end of the sixth century or beginning of the fifth century B.C., suggests that it is about the same size as the Tempio Grande—about 150 feet long by 115 feet wide. “This duplication of monumental buildings in an Etruscan city is rare,” Pasieka said. The new study will help researchers understand Etruscan religion and the development of the city, he added. “The intact strata of the temple are offering us insights into more than a thousand years of development of one of the most important Etruscan cities,” Pasieka explained. To read about the burials of an Etruscan noble family at Vulci, go to "The Tomb of the Silver Hands."
