Ricerc@Sapienza

The Hasti Afunei sarcophagus is a large Etruscan urn, made up of two chalky alabaster monoliths. Dated from the last quarter of the third century BC, it was found in 1826 in the small town of Chiusi (Tuscany- Il Colle place) by a landowner, Pietro Bonci Casuccini, who made it part of his private collection. The noble owner’s collection was sold in 1865 to the Royal Museum of Palermo (today under the name of Antonino Salinas Regional Archaeological Museum), where it is still displayed.

Earth's microbial biosphere extends down through the crust and much of the subsurface, including those microbial ecosystems located within cave systems. Here, we elucidate the microbial ecosystems within anthropogenic 'caves'; the Iron-Age, subterranean tombs of central Italy. The interior walls of the rock (calcium-rich macco) were painted ~2500 years ago and are covered with CaCO3 needles (known as moonmilk).

A white deposit covering the walls in the Stanza degli Scudi of the Tomba degli Scudi, Tarquinia, Italy,
has been investigated. In this chamber, which is still preserved from any kind of intervention such as
cleaning and sanitization, ancient Etruscans painted shields to celebrate the military power of the
Velcha family. Scanning electron microscopy analysis has revealed the presence of characteristic
nanostructures corresponding to a calcite secondary mineral deposit called moonmilk. Analysis of the

Rofalco is a late-Etruscan fortress in the territory of Vulci. Thanks to a long-term excavation project and the good preservation of the archaeological evidence some analyses can help to understand the economy of the site. This paper discusses the evidence related to textile production (spindle whorl, loom weights and bobbins) discovered so far. The dimension and weight analysis together with the spatial distribution and clustering demonstrate the crucial role of textile production within the economy of the fortress.

Il contributo prende in esame le prime fasi del sito archeologico di Leopoli-Cencelle, città fondata da papa Leone IV alla metà del IX secolo d.C. Le indagini archeologiche hanno dimostrate la preesistenza di un insediamento etrusco, altrimenti non noto oltre ad una serie di attestazioni di materiali romani e tardoromani, che documentano l'occupazione dell'area ben prima dell'intervento papale. Viene quindi proposto un aggiornamento sui dati noti dell'organizzazione urbanistica di IX secolo.r