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Abstract
This paper attempts to bridge the gulf between two often separate research agendas
in Archaic period Etruria, one concerned with the archaeology of wine and agricultural
production and redistribution, the other with figured representations of drinking
and the associated symbolic visual language. It does so by examining the relationship
between changing processes of production, consumption and exchange and the symbolism
of drinking in the visual and material culture of sixth-century bc Tyrrhenian Etruria.
In this analysis, I maintain that changing modes of agricultural production and distribution
had an impact on such symbolism in elite funerary and domestic contexts, with key
evidence also coming from sanctuaries. In particular, it is argued that during the
seventh century bc, the visual language related to wine drinking alludes to experiences
of bodily otherness; this is indicated by the symbolic correlation between accessibility
to wine, the dangers of maritime travel and death. From the sixth century bc, we can
trace a shift towards a visual language that centred on cultural difference or otherness:
this is noticeable in the introduction of Dionysiac imagery and new mythological narratives
of cross-cultural encounters, as well as in a new emphasis on codified drinking and
culturally differentiated drinking vessels. This shift is more or less contemporary
with other changes, namely the production and distribution of agricultural surplus
in the Tyrrhenian region and beyond, and shifting values of objects in that exchange.