Etruscans Now

Cities and settlement

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Hilary W. Smith - The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The Etruscan castellum: fortified settlements and regional autonomy in Etruria

Extensive surveys such as those in the area of Veii, Falerii, Volterra and Fiesole aimed at better defining the nature of Etruscan landscape among other things. These surveys, particularly the British School ones to the north of Rome, have done much to enrich our understanding of not only Etruscan cities but also of smaller settlements. It is within this latter category that a new group of settlements seems to be discernible on the basis of archaeological investigations conducted in the last 50 years and corroborated by the ancient authors themselves. It consists of a fairly homogeneous pattern of fortified hilltop settlements that has not been recognized for the whole of Etruria before. Defining the nature of this pattern provides an opportunity to look at the socio-economic interactions of Etruria on a more microscopic scale, and suggests how the smaller settlements may have participated in regional activities.

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