- chapter 37: Villanovan and Etruscan mining and metallurgy –
Tyrrhenian Etruria appears to be relatively poor in evidence, although the distribution
of several Early Iron Age discoveries near the mining areas is an indirect indication of
the exploitation of the ore deposits (Giardino 1995: 109–133, Figs 53, 56, 58, 127).
In southern Etruria evidence of metallurgical activities comes from Tarquinia and
Bolsena. At Tarquinia, on the terrace of Pian di Civita, shapeless pieces of molten
copper (aes rude), a piece of slag, and some fragments of hematite were found during
surveys along with fragments of impasto, probably to be dated to the Iron Age (Zifferero
1992: 82–83). The Villanovan settlement of Gran Carro on Lake Bolsena – an area
centrally situated with respect to the territories of Vulci, Tarquinia and Volsinii-
Orvieto – provided several pieces of evidence related to the metallurgy of copper alloys,
consisting of ingots, casting residues, semi-worked pieces, an unrefi ned lead ingot
and a stone mold for the manufacture of three different artifacts (Tamburini 1995:
308, 315–316) (Fig. 37.10). At Gran Carro, tin artifacts were also recovered: small
chain rings of almost pure tin, not yet separated after casting (Fig. 37.11), and a tiny
strip of the same metal, most probably to inlay the pottery with tin foils (Giardino,
Gigante 1995), a decoration that occurred with relative frequency in the grave goods
of Etruria (Stjernquist 1960; Bartoloni, Delpino 1985). The archaeometric analyses
carried out by X-ray fl uorescence on the fi nds from Gran Carro detected in some of the
bars the presence of tin, an indication that they were obtained from metal recycling.
Figure 37.10 Stone mold from the Villanovan village of Gran Carro (Bolsena, Viterbo).Figure 37.11 Unseparated elements of a chain cast in tin from the Villanovan village of
Gran Carro (Bolsena, Viterbo).