- chapter 37: Villanovan and Etruscan mining and metallurgy –
There are many indications of metal-working on Etruscan sites in Etruria Padana (the
Po Region), probably because the raw metal from Tuscany arrived here to be marketed in
the Po Valley and beyond the Alps. In fact, some of the main metallurgical centers appear
along the lines of communication between Tuscany and Emilia, for instance, Marzabotto
(province of Bologna) on the River Reno or San Polo on the River Enza (province of Reggio
Emilia) (Moretto 1995). Marzabotto certainly represents an important metallurgical
center, where the working of both bronze and iron took place: here, the production
facilities were located in the center of town, near the main road that crossed the city from
north to south. The workshops, found both in Regio V (insulae 3 and 5) (Massa-Pairault
1997; Locatelli 2005), and in Regio IV (insulae 1 and 2) (Sassatelli 1989: 53–58, 62;
Taglioni 1990), were particularly dedicated to the production of bronze, although there
also happen to be some iron works. Excavations have unearthed the remains of furnaces,
casting pits, numerous fragments of crucibles and molds in refractory clay, slags and
casting residues, as well as pieces of pumice stone. The pumice implies that in the same
workshops where the casting operations took place there also occurred the fi nishing of
the products, which were cleaned and polished with the use of abrasive materials. The
discovery of metal fragments and ingots suggests that here too, as in Villanovan Bologna,
the bronze-smith’s workshop made use of recycled bronze mixed, if necessary, with pure
copper. The productive plant of insula 5, except for the room where the metal was cast,
had a fl oor of fi red clay on which occurred the fi nal processing, such as the fi nishing of
the products and any processes of hammering, soldering and annealing; a further cobbled
area was set aside for the accumulation of semi-fi nished pieces and waste for recasting.
Additional evidence of metalworking is documented in other centers of Etruria
Padana, both within large urban centers such as Bologna-Felsina (Taglioni 1999: 67)
or Spina (Uggeri Patitucci, Uggeri 1973), and in small villages, as at Case Nuove di
Siccomonte (Parma), Servirola (Reggio Emilia), Casale Rivalta (Reggio Emilia), Voghiera
(Ferrara), Monte Bibele di Monterenzio (Bologna), and Pianella di Monte Savino (Bologna)
(Moretto 1995, 68–71).
CONCLUSIONThis brief summary shows that both the ancient sources and the archaeological data
agree in stressing how metallurgy constituted one of the main economical and cultural
engines of the Etruscan centers ever since the proto-historic period. In recent decades,
the intensifi cation of research and greater attention to aspects of production has greatly
enriched our knowledge, shedding new light on the complex network of trade and
cultural relations that linked the different parts of Etruria. An increasingly extended use
of analytical techniques on archaeological materials is a prerequisite for the development
of archaeometallurgy, a discipline whose contribution is essential to understand the
economic and socio-cultural dynamics of a people so deeply bound to the exploitation
and processing of metals, as the Etruscans certainly were.^1
NOTE1 I would like to thank the Museo Civico Archeologico of Bologna, which has kindly authorized
the publication of the fi nds in its collections; the illustrations were furnished by the Archivio
Fotografi co of the Museum itself. I would also like to thank the Museo Preistorico-etnografi co
“L. Pigorini” of Rome, which has given permission to reproduce the inlaid clasp from Murlo.