Journal - Comune di Monteleone di Spoleto

ii.11 Substructure of parade chariot i from Castel San mariano as reconstructed for the
exhibition “Carri da guerra e principi etruschi” (emiliozzi 1997, p. 208, fig. 1). Photo graph:
elisabetta Bianchi
34
reconstructed so far this panel corresponds to the rear side
panels on the monteleone chariot [cat. 15]). The difference
can be appreciated by looking at the boxes of the two
types of vehicles as if their component parts were shown
flattened: in the war chariot type the box has five panels,
while in the sixth-century parade chariot type it has three
(with or without the two side additions). also, the wheels
seem smaller in the parade chariot, and the length of the
chassis is proportionate to the wheels’ diameter. We cannot
be sure whether there was a general redesign of parade
chariots, given that in the sixth century B.C. the same
features appear in etruscan and latin representations of
racing chariots. 22 This innovation may have resulted from
technology introduced by wheelwrights at the beginning
of the sixth century B.C. to satisfy the demands of a new
elite (see Section ii.C). 23
a proposal i recently advanced for the reconstruction of
the dutuit chariot from Capua, which is datable to about
580 B.C., suggests that that vehicle represents an advanced
phase of “gestation” of the sixth-century B.C. parade chariot
type with u-shaped sides, of which the monteleone chariot
seems to have become the standard. 24
ii.12 The war chariot from Castel di decima as graphically reconstructed for
emiliozzi 1997, p. 96, fig. 1. drawing: Gabriella Corsi under the direction of
adriana emiliozzi
The shock-absorbing system. in etruscan-italic war chariots
the floor frame is always fixed directly onto the axle and
draft pole, as in the examples i have noted from the ancient
mediterranean area, whether actual vehicles, models, or
representations. 25 The reconstruction of etruscan chariots
from Populonia and Vulci (Figures ii.13, ii.14) shows that the
three parts are joined in such a way as to create a rigid traction
structure and that the vehicle could only be mounted
thanks to a floor of woven leather strips that absorb shocks
when the vehicle is in motion. 26 The reconstruction is based
on a fragment of the floor frame of the Vulci chariot, which
shows the holes for the ancient woven leather flooring. 27
By contrast, a complex system placed between the floor
frame and the axle to act as a shock absorber is reconstructed
in the etruscan parade chariots. The system consists
of two facing inverted-trapezoid-shaped pieces of wood
presenting curved and rectangular cuts and joined by two
cylindrical crossbars parallel to the axle (see Figure ii.15).
The system sits under the floor frame, and the trapezoidal
pieces fit onto the axle by means of two pegs provided with
tenons. The two crossbars slot into the pole. as illustrated in
the diagram, two narrow curved cuts in the pole receive the