- Gilda Bartoloni –
small groups of male and female burials that stand out either for the use of monumental
tombs (chamber, trench, or pit-tombs with special covers) or for the presence of objects
of particular prestige, such as weapons, pottery, ornaments in bronze and in precious
materials.
These signifi cant changes in funerary ideology, which indicate a process of social
transformation taking place and exchange processes of a systematic and structural
character, are mirrored by changes in regional planning. By examining the necropoleis we
deduce a sharp increase in population in certain villages, despite the high infant mortality
seen in paleoanthropological studies, and from an analysis of the grave offerings, emerges
an impression of the uniformity of material culture and of the groups gravitating around
the plateau.
From the end of the ninth century bc, there was in Italy a lively system of exchanges
between communities both of the same culture and those far away. Relations with other
Villanovan communities in the Po Valley and Salerno region are highlighted mainly by
the distribution of bronze artifacts. Products of Bologna are popular in Etruria, both in
coastal areas, especially Populonia and Vetulonia, and in the interior (Veii) by the end of
the ninth century bc and then more often through the eighth century bc. It is generally
razors and fi bulae, bronze objects widely represented in Villanovan funerary offerings that
are found in all areas. The presence of vessels and weapons among grave goods, usually
defensive types (shields and later also helmets), indicates, from the end of the ninth
century bc, a toreutic production whose models, styles and techniques seem to be closely
linked to a larger, transalpine sphere, and especially to central and northern Europe.
The coastal communities of Etruria during this phase appear to take a major role in
the Tyrrhenian Sea, engaging in trade with the Nuragic populations on one hand (Fig.
5.9) and the “Enotrian” communities of southern Italy on the other, via the Villanovan
outposts in the Salerno region (see Chapter 16). If the mining centers of Etruria are more
interested in relations with the islands of the Tyrrhenian (see Chapter 13), then those of
southern coastal Etruria (Tarquinia and perhaps Vulci) seem to control the traffi c along
the Tyrrhenian coast.
As one gradually moves away from the fi rst decades of the eighth century bc, the
process of economic differentiation within society becomes more evident in the tombs
that contain increasingly valuable material, and show us visible signs of a social gap. This
delineates an elite in which a woman could be as privileged as a man and receive the same
profusion of goods.
Generally, the birth of the middle-Tyrrhenian aristocracy is fi xed within the eighth
century bc. The funeral offerings of this period exhibit a progressive increase in quality
and quantity; some burials stand out from the rest, throwing into relief movement
within the body politic. In the fi rst half of the century, we notice a contrast between
some individuals recognized as persons of rank and the main group, which remains
homogeneous.
In each community some male and female assemblages emerge (usually of warriors).
The men are characterized as warriors/chariot-owners, and essential armaments are the
circular shield of sheet-bronze decorated in repoussé and with an attached handle, crested
helmet with horizontal tubes at the base, iron sword with bronze sheath, iron and bronze
spears, and more rarely, axes. The materials relevant to these depositions show frequent
contact between eminent persons: we fi nd Enotrian material in Etruria (Fig. 5.10), and
Villanovan material in Latium, from Campania to Calabria. Contact with the people