- chapter 5: The Villanovan culture –
set of armour, a scepter and a footstool, no doubt symbolic of the throne, and a bronze
rhyton perhaps of Assyrian origin). The visual reference is obviously to a monarch of
Near Eastern type. Excavations in the settlements provide evidence of structures that
begin to stand out from average huts: from the end of the eighth century bc, when the
aristocratic class is already well defi ned, with emerging headmen/chiefs, some structures
with rectangular plans, divided into two or three rooms, stand out from the common
huts of oval outline, which are still the main type of habitation (Fig. 5.15). These great
huts of wood, planned with multiple rooms and given porches and courtyards, may
be considered royal residences. In the “houses of the king,” true political centers and
community institutions (Fig. 5.16) begin to develop community functions, with rituals
especially linked to banquets.
Figure 5.15 Hut at Populonia (Excavations G. Bartoloni, processing V. Acconcia, A. Di Napoli).