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They are able to tell us today about this evolved society and its principal activities, a people known as "the first great people of Italy".
The Etruscans, skilled craftsmen and merchants whose main activity was carried out at sea, built their cities on high terraces as can be seen with Roselle, Vetulonia and Ghiaccio Forte. |
Their necropoleis were structured as proper cities according to a precise urban plan, with streets, squares and splendid monuments.
A short distance from Puntone are the remains of two among the most important and powerful Etruscan cities: Roselle and Vetulonia.
The first, an active commerciai and cultural centre, is best known for its extensive city walls, a rare and precious example of the renowned Etruscan defensive architecture. There is also considerable evidence of the remains of the originai city on which the Romans built their own city, making this one of the most interesting archaeological sites in the region.
On the highest part of the hill, the archaeological digs have uncovered the amphitheatre, many public and private buildings and the distinctive paving with cartwheel grooves still visible. Vetulonia still has sections of fortifications, even though the great rival of Roselle owes its fame to its necropoleis and the beauty ofthese tombs.
Both well and mound tombs like the splendid Belvedere, Diavolino and Fibula d'Oro tombs can be seen along the so called "via dei sepolcri”, a lovely path in the shade of a little hill covered with olive trees. The Pietrera tomb, certainly the most important of antique Etruria for its monumental dimensions and for the finds discovered inside, has recently been opened to the public. The other significant settlement is near Scansano. The ancient urban centre of Ghiaccio Forte, dating
from the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 3rd centuries B.C., was built in a strategic position to control the territory, increasingly threatened by Rome.
This settlement was also protected by walls with three city gates. Inside there is a large building with a number of rooms arranged around an open courtyard, identified as a metal working shop. On the basis of the objects found, it is possible to understand the purpose of the different rooms: the bathroom, the kitchen and the pantries for storing wine and oil in large terracotta jars. As a necessary complement to the archaeological sites, a number of museums exhibit the finds, a world of art and of history.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES:
- GAVORRANO
Etruscan Tomb (6th - 4th centuries B.C,) Loc. Giuncarico - Poggio Pelliccia
- MASSA MARITTIMA
Etruscan Settlement - The ruins of an Etruscan settlement with a necropolis (7th-6th centuries B.C,) - Loc. Lago dell'Accesa information c/o the museum
- SCARLINO
La Rocca Fortified settlement tram the Hellenistic age (4th-2nd centuries B.C,) and the Middle Ages situated in the historic centre. - Loc. Scarlino - info: tel. 0566.38546
- POGGIO TONDO
Archaeological Site at Poggio Tondo Etruscan necropolis with chamber tombs (7th - 6th centuries B.C,) - Loc. Pia n d'Alma
info: tel. 0564.38521
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