The exceptional finding of the tomb of the chariot from hell in October 2001, during the course of the annual excavations in the monumental necropolis of Pianacce, a short distance from the centre of Saneano. has contributed to one of the rnost significant discoveries of Etruscology in the last decades. The traverrine tomb, situated at a depth of five meters, is decorated in a pictorial cycle of vivacious colours which stands our above the white plaster and is very well preserved. But, the exceptional thing is the originality of the iconographyc theme. On the lefi hand side of the entrance to the corridor is the representation of a quadriga (chariot), composed of two lions and two griffons pulling a cart steered by a demon with a fearful, surly, possessed look, probably representing an innovative figure of the demon Charun, the correspondent of the Greek Caronte, companion of the souls going towards Ade, but in this case in the role of a charioteer never before represented in Etruscan art. Beyond a niche excavated along the corridor, a second large vivacious scene is visible: two reclining male figures on a kline (banquet recliner), demonstrating exceptional afiectionate gestures towards each other, also without comparison in Etruscan art, and representing the two defunct in the tomb, while attending a banquet in Ade. Perhaps a father and son, as their distinct age difference shows. Beside them is a servant, with a colum (sieve) in hand, used to filter wine. Underneath is a frieze of dolphins diving through the waves, which symbolises the moment of passing through to the otherworld. Inside the lower, square shaped room, is an extra ordinary painting of a three headed serpent, representing one of the many monsters which populated the otherworld in the imaginary Etruscan funerary of the tirne, as is the hippocampus which frequently appears on the lower wall. Below the hippocampus stands a sarcophagus in grey alabaster discovered in pieces, but now restored, with the defunct resting against two

the second half of the IV century B.C , and a confrontation of the painting styles tells us that the artists who worked on behalf of he aristocratic families entombed in the Pianacce came from Orvieto where they had worked in the Senecamimi necropolis. In the Pianacce necropolis (which presents a continuiiy of occupation from the second half of the VI to the II century B.C) beside the Tomb of the Chariot from Hell, other monumental structures are visible, excavated in the travertine and demonstrating the wealth of the families established in Sarteano territory between the late Classic and the first Hellenistic period. This burial ground nucleus, woven into extraordinarily beautiful scenery, constitutes, after the recent discoveries, one of the most significant archaeological sitesa of Northern Etruria.