The moulded head with furrowed brow, pointed ears, a long beard and moustache, with red and black painted details.The temples of the Etruscans consisted of wooden constructions on stone foundations, as in early Greece. But while the Greeks soon started to build lithic temples, the Etruscan adhered to their traditional method of construction until the Roman subjection. As early as the 7th century BC, the wooden frames were already protected by the external agents with clay tiles and terracotta revetment plaques. Quasi-horseshoe-shaped reliefs, or antefixes, were placed at the ends of the cover tiles above the eaves running along the sides of the roof.These protective revetments were at first painted, but soon they took the form of polychrome reliefs. Due to their fragility they frequently had to be replaced, although they were not allowed to leave the sanctuary precinct. Hence large quantities of architectural fragments have been preserved buried in special pits (bothroi) on the site.

Antiquities
Ancient Greek