Excavation of Transitional Villanovan-Etruscan Cemetery

  Villanovan and Early Etruscan gravefields are located atop the hills that ring the San Giuliano plateau. In contrast to the Etruscan chamber tombs that have made San Giuliano famous, the Villanovan graves are typically tombe a pozzo, or pit graves, with cremated skeletal remains and artifacts interred in urns (See: San Giuliano's Campo Sant'Antonio). Our focus on the San Simone plateau, however, is a group of late 8th to early 7th century trench tombs (tombe a fossa) that mark a nuanced Villanovan to Etruscan transitional period. Neither chamber tombs nor pit graves, these trench tombs are dug right into the plateau bedrock and contain inhumations. In addition to their form, their content marks a shift in practice, as trench tomb grave assemblages begin to contain both stylized characteristics that are recognized as Etruscan, as well as earlier Villanovan styles (i.e., geometric designs on ceramics vessels, some of which continue to be hand-made rather than thrown on a potter’s wheel).

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   During 2018 and 2019, we investigated the plateau of San Simone in search of these trench tombs and have located six that were previously not visible on the surface. We excavated one, G15-TF-001 in 2018. This tomb was intact and held the rich burial of young teenage girl. This burial assemblage is now on display in the Museo delle Necropoli Rupestri. In 2019, we removed the topsoil of a 10 x 10 m area that turned out to contain five additional burials. We excavated three and preserved two tombs for excavation in 2022. Two of these graves, G15-TF-002 and Grave G15-TF-006, were looted. However, grave G15-TF-003 contained the intact burial of a rich young child.