7th century BCE Ivory depicting the "Sons of Tinia," precursor to Castor and Pollux

 7th century BCE Ivory depicting the "Sons of Tinia" precursor to Castor and Pollux

Here is another double horse-headed pendant carved of ivory said to be from the area near Tivoli, Italy and dated to the 7th century BCE that I also photographed at the Ashmolean Museum in 2016 while I was in Oxford.

Double horse-headed pendant carved of ivory said to be from the area near Tivoli, Italy and dated to the 7th century BCE photographed at the Ashmolean Museum by the author.

Tivoli (ancient Tibur) lay on the eastern edge of Latium Vetus, just east of Rome, in an area inhabited by the Latini, one of the Italic tribes that formed the Latin League. However, by the late 8th–7th century BCE, this region was deeply influenced by Etruscan art and trade from the north and Greek and Phoenician luxury goods arriving through coastal markets such as Veii and Caere.

Thus, the piece was most likely made by a local Latin artisan or a craftsman working in an Etruscan-influenced workshop—possibly even in nearby Veii or Praeneste (Palestrina)—where such hybrid artistic traditions flourished.

The horse motif itself was widely used by Etruscans, Latins, and Sabines as a symbol of power, fertility, and divine favor. Its mirrored composition echoes both Etruscan repoussé bronzes (like the one I posted yesterday) and Near Eastern ivory plaques, showing how international visual language was adopted by Italic elites.

Elephant ivory from Syria, Phoenicia, and Egypt was a prized imported luxury material in central Italy during this period, most likely obtained through Phoenician and Greek traders. Carthaginian and Cypriot merchants traded North African ivory as early as the 8th century BCE, which also reached Tyrrhenian ports. Workshops at Caere (Cerveteri) and Veii imported and crafted raw ivory into inlays, handles, and small sculpted objects similar in style to this pendant.

As with the bronze pendant I posted yesterday, the face-to-face horseheads probably reference the divine twins motif again, representing protection, fertility, or martial strength. In central Italy during the 7th century BCE, depictions of twin horsemen begin appearing in Etruscan bronzes, Praenestine cistae, and Latial ivory plaques, reflecting contact with Greek mythological imagery from the eastern Mediterranean.

Before full Hellenization, these paired horsemen likely embodied indigenous Italic guardian deities connected with fertility, initiation, and protection of travelers or warriors. The Etruscans referred to them as the Tinas Cliniar (“Sons of Tinia”), while the Latins later adopted the Greek names Castor and Pollux, integrating them into Roman religion.

The piece could have served as a pectoral ornament, harness fitting, or votive offering. The use of imported ivory would have underscored elite status and cosmopolitan taste—typical of aristocratic display goods in Latium and southern Etruria.

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Etruscan influence in metalworking of the Golasecca and Veneti cultures

 By Mary Harrsch © 2025

Another piece I photographed at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford back in 2016 - a bronze pendant in the form of two pairs of horseheads with boot-shaped and plain pendants hanging from the base dated between 800-500 BCE. The piece was found in north Italy and the style is similar to some Etruscan work.

Bronze pendant from north Italy possibly from the Golasecca culture dated to between 800-500 BCE photographed at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford by Mary Harrsch.

During this period, the Golasecca Culture, an early Celtic-Italic peoples often linked to the Insubres and Lepontii tribes, inhabited the area around Lake Maggiore and Lake Como. Golasecca artisans were skilled metalworkers, producing bronze ornaments, weaponry, and horse harness fittings. Trade with the Etruscans and Greeks via river and alpine routes is well-documented, and Etruscan bronze goods and motifs often appear in their artwork. Superior Etruscan metallurgy and artistic style spread widely including repoussé decoration, geometric and animal motifs, and use of pendants or dangling elements.

Another possible origin of the pendant may be the Veneti culture of northeast Italy around Padua. Distinct from the Veneti of Gaul, this Indo-European-speaking people inhabited the region around Venetia. They adopted many Etruscan artistic and technological innovations as well while maintaining their own distinctive alphabet and religious customs. Venetic bronze votive figurines and horse imagery are especially common, reflecting both trade contact and shared symbolic traditions with Etruria.

The paired horsehead motif was a powerful symbol across Italic and Celtic regions—representing nobility, fertility, and the divine twins associated with horses (akin to the Greek Dioscuri). It may represent aristocratic emphasis on charioteering or mounted warfare practiced by both Etruscans and their northern neighbors.

Some scholars interpret elaborate bronze pendants like this as pectoral ornaments or belt fittings, worn by high-status men or women during ceremonies. The combination of repoussé decoration and suspended elements may have been designed for visual and auditory impact during ritual dances or public appearances. In northern sanctuaries, such as those in the Po Valley, Etruscan bronze votive objects and inscriptions often appear alongside local artifacts.

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