\paperw3000 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \li105 \f1 \fs22 THE PIACENZA LIVER\par
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This is a small bronze model of a sheep's li
ver, dating from the second century BC and found near Piacenza in 1877. It is \b \cf4 \ATXht15 inscribed\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 with the names of several deities corresponding to the individual parts of the animal's organ. It was used, perhaps for educational
purposes, by Etruscan priests (the haruspices) to interpret the will of the gods. Absence of the anatomical excrescences that can be seen in the model had an inauspicious significance.\par