Etruscans Now 
Cities and Settlements
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Lorenza Camin and
Walter McCall - University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
The Romanisation of the Rural Complex of Podere Cosciano
The summer of 2001 marked the third and final season of excavation of the farm complex of Podere Cosciano. The excavation here represents the most recent component of the Volterra Project, which has included such undertakings as the Cecina Valley Survey (1987 to present) and the excavation of the small farmhouse at San Mario (1993-6). Like those preceding it, the primary goal of the investigation at Cosciano was to further our understanding of rural habitation within Northern Etruria, an area too often ignored in recent scholarship. Based on our findings, a picture is emerging of stability and continuity of settlement pattern, vernacular architecture and ecology within the Cecina Valley region for nearly a thousand years. This theory stands in direct opposition to the presiding settlement model of Southern Etruria, nevertheless it is the latter that has traditionally been extrapolated for Etruria as a whole. The purpose of this investigation, therefore, is to re-evaluate current mindset in light of recent findings from Podere Cosciano and the Cecina Valley as a whole.