then study the flat visceral side of the liver after examining the caput iocineris. Haruspicy in Ancient Italy originated with the Etruscans. Textual evidence for Etruscan divination comes from an Etruscan inscription: the priest Laris Pulenas' (250–200 BCE) epitaph mentions a book he wrote on haruspicy. A collection of sacred texts called the Etrusca disciplina, written in Etruscan, were essentially guides on different forms of divination, including haruspicy and augury. In addition, a number of archeological artifacts depict Etruscan haruspicy. These include a bronze mirror with an image of a haruspex dressed in Etruscan priest's clothing, holding a liver while a crowd gathers near him. Another significant artifact relating to haruspicy in Ancient Italy is the Piacenza Liver. This bronze model of a sheep's liver was found by chance by a farmer in 1877. Names of gods are etched into the surface and organized into different sections. Artifacts depicting haruspicy exist from the ancient Roman world as well, such as stone relief carvings located in Trajan's Forum. See also Anthropomancy Augur Auspice References Bibliography Walter Burkert, 1992. The Orientalizing Revolution: Near Eastern Influence on Greek Culture in the Early Archaic Age (Thames and Hudson), pp 46–51. Derek Collins, "Mapping the Entrails: The Practice of Greek Hepatoscopy" American Journal of Philology 129 [2008]: 319-345 Marie-Laurence Haack, Les haruspices dans le monde romain (Bordeaux : Ausonius, 2003). Hans Gustav Güterbock, 'Hittite liver models' in: Language, Literature and History (FS Reiner) (1987), 147–153, reprinted in Hoffner (ed.) Selected Writings'', Assyriological Studies no. 26 (1997). External links This source suggests that Greek and Roman haruspices used the entrails of human corpses; the victim should be "without spot or blemish". Haruspices, article in Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities Figurine of Haruspex, 4th Cent. B.C. Vatican Museums Online, Gregorian Etruscan Museum, Room III Ancient Roman augury Divination Etruscan religion Middle Eastern mythology Ancient Roman occupations