- chapter i: Etruscan environments –
but there are tin ores present in Campiglia, both in the form of microscopic grains and
as lenses embedded in hematite ores. The cassiterite (tin bound to oxygen, Sn 2 O) from
Campiglia is unusually rich and contains 72 percent tin. George Dennis described the
“Cento Camerelle” with traces of ancient extraction of tin. Certainly the metal-cunning
Etruscans made use of this valuable raw material.^9 These areas have a documented mining
history until 1975 when the last mines of Massa Marittima were closed.^10 The mineral
deposits were among the wealthiest in the whole of the Mediterranean.
Unlike most cities of Etruria the largest northern city, Populonia, was situated close
to the coast, a result of its importance as a port receiving the rich iron ores from Elba.
Vetulonia and Roselle, also important metal trading cities in Etruscan times, were situated
near the shore of the Lacus Prilius, which in the modern period is a dried out lake.^11 One
lake of special interest in the northern area is Lago dell’Accesa, a karst lake 37–39 meters
deep. In the seventh century bc a small mining community was built on its eastern
shore. Several mines were used in Etruscan times in the vicinity, some only a few hundred
meters from the settlement. It was abandoned at the end of the sixth century bc and it
has been suggested that this abandonment was due to heavy metal (arsenic, As) poisoning
as a result of combined climatic conditions and mineral working habits.^12 Production
was resumed in the fi rst century ad. The lake’s importance derives from a series of
pollen cores extracted there which give us a good deal of knowledge about the covering
of trees and utility plants during Etruscan times and will be further discussed below.
The thermic dynamics below the Earth’s crust in Italy cause hot spring waters to
well from various localities. Sometimes these are mixed with sulphur. Native or free
sulphur occurs chiefl y in volcanic or sedimentary deposits such as those described above;
in Etruria they are found in the band of volcano lakes from south to north. In Antiquity
these sulphuric wells were considered most curative both for men and animals. Baths
cured or improved skin diseases in animals, sheep-scab, foot rot in hoofed animals and
were used to clean sheep before wool shearing. They were a very valuable asset.^13
The Maremma, made famous by D. H. Lawrence’s book Etruscan Places, published in
1932, is the vast south-western coastal area of Etruria stretching from Tarquinia in the
south to the Colline Metallifere in the north. Today a thriving agricultural district, in
Etruscan times it was a partially swampy area. The land was suitable only for grazing but
was poor grazing land at that. Small Etruscan cities were placed on hilltops in the highlands
above the Maremma proper and George Dennis describes how inaccessible parts of the
area were during his visits in the 1840s. Roadless land, thorny bushes, swampy holes,
sheep fl ocks and rabid dogs met him when he tried to reach Populonia.^14 His appreciation
of the Maremma, however, is clear from his praise of it as “full of the picturesque and
beautiful.”^15 It had many shallow, lacustrine waters in Etruscan times, especially the so-
called Maremma Livornese and Maremma Grossetana, most of which have perished due
to land rise and the thorough drainage projects of Mussolini which fi nally put an end to
the fearful fevers of the swamps. The malaria parasite is much favored by the agricultural
practices of humans. It probably spread as a result of agriculture and sedentary life some
10,000 years ago. The Etruscan waters were surely full of gnats in ancient times but the
malaria parasite seems not to have appeared in Italy before 500 bc,^16 even somewhat later
in Etruria, possibly transferring from Africa during the Punic wars. A special culture has
developed in the Maremma with buttari on horses herding cattle of a hearty stock that
can survive on poor grazing conditions. Primitive lines of this breed, the Maremmana,
resemble the aurochs, Bos primigenus, the wild ancestor of domestic cattle (extinct since