Editing Falisci (section)

=== Funerary practices ===
Possibly the most uniquely Faliscan aspect of Faliscan material culture was their funerary rites. During the beginning of the 8th-century BCE, around the earliest periods of Faliscan history, they [[Cremation|cremated]] their dead and stored the [[Ash|ashes]] in stone [[Cist|cists]]. By the last quarter of the 8th-century BCE, burial became more common for upper-class women while cremation remained common for upper-class men.{{Sfn|Brolli|Tabolli|2016|p=853}} Throughout the rest of the century, Faliscan burial practices evolved towards inhumation in trench or pit tombs and then the usage of [[Sarcophagus|sarcophagi]]. Sarcophagi were replaced with wooden caskets typically made from a hollowed [[Trunk (botany)|tree trunk]] by the end of the century.{{Sfn|Brolli|Tabolli|2016|p=853}} [[Loculus (architecture)|Loculi]]—a specific type of burial [[Niche (architecture)|niche]]—began to be incorporated into Faliscan funerary sites around this time, becoming grave sites themselves by the end of the century.{{Sfn|Tabolli|Turfa|2014|p=45}} Loculus tombs can be divided into two distinct categories depending upon the number of loculi: the [[Narce]] type, containing one loculus, and the Montarano type, containing two. Another loculus tomb discovered in the Celle necropolis uniquely does not contain two loculi placed on opposite walls, but instead on adjacent walls in an L-shaped formation.{{Sfn|Tabolli|Neri|2017|p=564}}{{Sfn|Tabolli|Turfa|2014|p=49}} In the first quarter of the 7th-century BCE, the Faliscans began to use [[Rock-cut tomb|rock-cut]] [[Chamber tomb|chamber tombs]].{{Sfn|Biella|2024|p=332}}{{Sfn|Turfa|2013|p=263}} In the northern and southern regions of Faliscan territory, it is common for the chamber tombs to be carved around a [[pilaster]]. Faliscan chamber tombs often contain multiple loculi closed with [[Tile|tiles]], a layout unlike other contemporary cultures.{{Sfn|Tabolli|Neri|2017|p=564}}

In Narce, a 2.8 by 1.55 [[Metre|meter]] Faliscan sarcophagus was uncovered buried within a 1.45-meter-deep hole in 2012. The sarcophagus was contained inside a recess at the bottom of a trench filled with [[sand]]. At the long ends of the sarcophagus, a layer of compacted [[tufa]] fragments held the coffin in place. It was enclosed with a layer of irregularly placed rocks, which are then placed beneath separate layers of [[coal]] mixed with [[clay]] underneath a layer of sand and [[pozzolana]]. The final layer, covering all previous strata, consists of large tufa blocks mixed with clay. On the bottom of the sarcophagus, a drainage channel roughly shaped like the letter "Y" ending in a circular hole likely functioned to remove [[slurry]] and natural [[Tissue (biology)|tissues]] [[Liquefaction|liquified]] as part of the process of [[decomposition]]. This drainage system potentially motivated the unique sloped position of the sarcophagus; the placement on a slope allowed the fluids the flow out of the tomb. Collectively, these practices served to protect the tomb from damage and to preserve the body; in particular, the drainage of fluids helped to delay the rotting of the corpse and possibly to ritualistically purify the body. The grave goods were likely stolen prior to excavation, although remnants of a cup and a bronze [[fusiform]] [[pendant]] were uncovered.{{Sfn|Brolli|Tabolli|2013|pp=|p=18}}

==== Burial goods ====
Faliscan [[grave goods|funerary goods]] varied depending upon the social status of the deceased; the graves of elites had more ostentatious collections of objects while the graves of lower-class persons stored few offerings.{{Sfn|Turfa|2013|p=270}} One of the most common burial items in Faliscan society was a type of Etruscan [[vase]] called a ''[[holmos]]''; the number of ''holmoi'' in a grave is often equivalent to the number of burials.{{Sfn|Tabolli|Neri|2017|p=565}} In many circumstances, the grave goods of Faliscan burials were heavily influenced by the material culture of nearby pre-Roman societies. For instance, a [[bronze]] bowl with a [[cuneiform]] inscription was found in a grave in Falerii.{{Sfn|Biella|2024|p=332}} [[Trade route|Trade routes]] connecting various civilizations from across the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] likely brought material goods from various distinct cultures to the ''ager Faliscus''. It is likely that these trade routes, in particular commercial routes with the Etruscans, are responsible for the numerous foreign objects found in Faliscan burials.{{Sfn|Biella|2024|p=333}} During the 5th and 6th centuries BCE, the Faliscans traded with the [[Attic Greek|Attic]] parts of Greece, resulting in large quantities of black and red-figure pottery appearing in Faliscan sites.{{Sfn|Tabolli|Neri|2017|p=566}}

Adult Faliscans were buried with grave goods reflecting their role within society; men were often buried with spears and [[Sword|swords]] on the left side of their corpse while women were often buried with tools for [[Spinning (textiles)|spinning]] or [[weaving]] such as [[Spindle whorl|spindle whorls]], wooden [[Spindle (stationery)|spindles]], a weaving comb pendant, and [[Distaff|distaffs]]. Bronze distaffs occupy the same position in the tombs of women as weaponry occupies in the graves of men. These distaffs were often ornately decorated with [[inlay]] of amber and [[gold]]. They likely did not serve a utilitarian function for spinning like regular distaffs; instead, they probably served a ceremonial purpose.{{Sfn|Brolli|Tabolli|2016|p=857}} [[Linen]] is mentioned as a characteristic feature of the Faliscan people by the 1st-century CE Roman writer [[Silius Italicus]].{{Sfn|Brolli|Tabolli|2016|p=857}}<ref>[[Silius Italicus]]. ''[[iarchive:punicasi01siliuoft|Punica]]''. [[iarchive:punicasi01siliuoft/page/184|4.223]].</ref> Although weapons such as swords and spears are most often found in male graves, ritual [[Axe|axes]] have been uncovered in female graves. In one burial, a 30–40-year-old woman was buried with a miniature axe covering her [[forehead]]. This grave good likely reflected the significance of women or priestesses for religious [[sacrifice]]; it possibly reflects a more specific connection between women and the division of the meat of sacrificed animals.{{Sfn|Brolli|Tabolli|2016|p=857}} 

The graves of female [[Adolescence|adolescents]] or children uniquely contain smaller, scaled down burial goods that lack any reference to work-related activities and are sometimes connected to childhood play; they also usually, although not always, lack any reference to the funerary [[symposium]]. It was common for the clothing of young girls to be covered in metal plates sometimes adorned with [[Swastika|swastikas]]. Within a Faliscan tomb on the slopes of [[Monte Greco]] are the bodies of a mother and daughter, both buried in a trench tomb. Both women wore [[Jewellery|jewelry]], although mother has larger amounts of jewelry and the highest-quality jewelry.{{Sfn|Brolli|Tabolli|2016|p=855}} The mother was buried with [[amber]] pendants that possibly functioned to protect [[fertility]], one of which depicts a woman with their bare hands grasping their belly and the other portrays a [[monkey]].{{Sfn|Brolli|Tabolli|2016|p=856}} Another, likely fertility-related, pendant from a tomb in [[Pizzo Piede]] depicts a woman placing both her hands on her [[Hip|hips]], drawing attention to the [[Pubis (bone)|pubis]]. This same tomb contains a two-wheeled [[chariot]] as a grave good, possibly symbolic of the wedding and funeral rituals as well as the journey into the [[afterlife]].{{Sfn|Brolli|Tabolli|2016|p=859}}

Archaeological analysis of a cremated Faliscan woman from Narce, who either had recently given birth or was in the late stages of [[pregnancy]], revealed that a [[necklace]] of [[Glass casting|glass paste]] and [[amber]] [[Bead|beads]] was placed inside the ''[[Olla (Roman pot)|olla]]'' following the cremation. Beads placed next to objects relating to the mother are similarly found in other structures identified as the graves of infants or female children.{{Sfn|Brolli|Tabolli|2016|p=854}} Amber is common throughout upper-class Faliscan graves in Narce, likely reflecting a high demand for exotic products. However, amber decorations and full-sized [[Fibula (brooch)|fibulae]] are primarily found in the graves of women over 30. The material was used to make complex necklaces, embellish tools or the parts of clothing, and—primarily in Narce—to make figurines. Amber figurines are almost exclusively found in female graves, although male graves sometimes contain several amber beads or some amber in fibulae.{{Sfn|Brolli|Tabolli|2016|p=856}}

Faliscan burial goods contain evidence for Faliscan fashion styles and [[cosmetics]], Figures depicting heads of women found in female—likely high-class—burials that potentially served as wedding gifts, also provide archaeologists with depictions of Faliscan [[Hairstyle|hairstyles]]; they suggest that Faliscan women may have used a [[Snood (headgear)|snood]] to cover their hear. Further evidence for this piece of headgear derives from a mid-4th-century BCE tomb in [[Coste di Manone]]; the tomb contains a female skeleton with the remains of hair and fabric, possibly once a component of a snood [[Embroidery|embroidered]] with a purple or blue thread.{{Sfn|Brolli|Tabolli|2016|p=860}} Women are also found buried with [[Cosmetics|cosmetic]] goods such as—from the 6th-century BCE onwards—bronze [[Mirror|mirrors]]. One [[Ceramic glaze|glazed]] black cup from the 3rd-century BCE, contains evidence of a red powder possibly used as [[lipstick]] or a [[Rouge (cosmetics)|rouge]].{{Sfn|Brolli|Tabolli|2016|p=859}} Ancient Faliscan women may have used cylindrical cases to store cosmetic products. Evidence for this is found in a Faliscan [[krater]] made in the mid-4th-century BCE, although the usage of these objects for this purpose was likely not as common as in other regions such as [[Latium]].{{Sfn|Brolli|Tabolli|2016|p=860}} The Faliscans had a tradition of decorating the [[Urn|cinerary urns]] of women with clothing and garments. Funerary ''ollae'' belonging to women from the [[Tufi]] necropolis were richly ornamented with clothing designs, one urn was wrapped in a belt that likely symbolically represented the body of the deceased. In Narce, the necks of cinerary urns were covered in fibulae and pendants.{{Sfn|Brolli|Tabolli|2016|p=857}}