Montalcino, an Etruscan town, findings and history

“It is truly impressive to note that … ancient Etruria and modern Tuscany have been the beginnings and the base of Italian civilization”, said Jacques Heurgon, one of the most astute scholars of Etruscan civilization, defining the population of ancient Italy, which emerged starting from the eighth century BC. Etruscan presence in the territory of Montalcino, which on the topographic map “Sanctuaries of Etruria”, appears among the isolated sanctuaries around the countryside, and even though it is isolated evidence, it seems to be confirmed by the rather consistent settlements. The most important finding and the only one in Italy so far, has been revealed in the village of Civitella: a large fortress built at an altitude of 670 meters above sea level. This site was reported back in the ’20s by the renowned archaeologist Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli, and it covers a vast area already inhabited by the Etruscans in the sixth century BC. The fort is a military garrison which was used to defend Chiusi and Roselle from the Gauls in the north and the Romans in the south. But there’s more: another extremely interesting area from an archaeological point of view, appears to be Poggio alle Mura, where urns and other material found nearby are preserved inside the castle.

Leave a Reply