The Etruscan roots of the Reinheim armring

Abstract

The figural decoration on the armring recovered from the early La Tène grave at Reinheim displays a goddess with a bird perched on her head and animals behind her shoulders. While reminiscent of the Mediterranean Potnia Theron (Mistress of Animals), the iconography of this deity remains obscure, though influences from Hallstatt, Greek, Scythian, and north Italian art have been identified. This study argues that three particular aspects of the armring’s decoration – the headdress of the goddess, the animals she was depicted with, and the stylisation of her lower torso – place the primary influence for this artistic composition in Orientalising Etruria.