The overall investigation of the different districts of an Etruscan settlement is an extremely rare circumstance. Pyrgi is an exceptional case-study because of the possibility of a full analysis of its different topographical components. The study of the urbanistic asset of Pyrgi's settlement and of the arrangement of the sacred areas is favoured by their abandonment after the phase of Romanization and by the possibility of performing large-scale research over its territory.
Pyrgi played different functions (harbour, settlement, sanctuary) and was a fundamental pole of attraction for foreign haunters as the outpost on the sea of Caere, one of the main Etruscan towns, to which was connected by a large road comparable to the one linking Athens to the Piraeus. The development of Pyrgi was strictly linked to its favourable geographic position along the Tyrrhenian maritime routes.
The excavations conducted since 1957 have brought to light a large sacred district, including the Monumental Sanctuary of Uni-Astarte and a demetriac cult place dedicated to the couple of deities Sur and Cavatha.
Whereas the architectural features and cultic aspects of the sacred areas are already well-known, the presence of a block of ceremonial buildings N of Temple A, next to the terminal trait of the Caere-Pyrgi road, could not be detected before 2009, when the excavation began in this area.
Research program for the year 2017 aims to improve the knowledge of the sacred district through the excavation of the surroundings of Tp.A, and the Ceremonial Quarter N of the Sanctuary, based on the results of the prospections carried on during the 2016 campaign, to reconstruct the topographical asset of this crucial area and its relationship with the harbour. Special care will be reserved to the conservation, through the creation of a "cantiere-scuola" which will involve students of the Scuola Spec. Restauro Monumenti, and to the valorisation, also including the virtual riconstruction of the site.
The overall investigation of the different districts of an Etruscan settlement is an extremely rare circumstance. If compared with other Etruscan maritime sites, Pyrgi is an exceptional case-study because of the available evidence and the possibility of a full investigation of its different topographical components. The study of the urbanistic asset of Pyrgi's settlement and of the arrangement of the sacred areas is favoured by their abandonment after the phase of Romanization and by the possibility of performing large-scale research over its territory. For this reason, the informative potential of Pyrgi is great and will also shed light on the urbanistic choices of the metropolis Caere.
The site of Pyrgi played different functions (harbour, settlement, sanctuary) and was a fundamental pole of attraction for foreign haunters as the outpost on the sea of one of the main Etruscan towns, as stressed by the large road connecting Caere to Pyrgi (Pubbl. P.I. 3,8,9,11). Its development was strictly linked to Pyrgi's favourable geographic position along the Tyrrhenian maritime routes (Pubbl. P.I. 2,5).
Whereas the architectural features and cultic aspects of the sacred areas are already well-known, the presence of a block of ceremonial buildings N of Tp. A could not be detected before 2009, when the excavation began in this area and a wide-range research started thanks to the involvement of an interdisciplinary équipe (scholars from 4 Departments of Sapienza University and other Institutions) to reconstruct the original landscape and the evolution of the coastline, as to figure out the morphology of the littoral and the harbour in the Etruscan period.
The new excavation area falls in the district between the Sanctuary and the settlement (Pubbl. P.I. 1,3,4). It includes different buildings (600-300 BC), some of them provided with decorated roofs, erected along a pebbled road departing from the Caere-Pyrgi and leading towards the harbour. The buildings, together with votive deposits and a fire-altar (Pubbl. P.I. 14), outline a residential quarter that was maybe attended by priesthood, where ceremonial practices were also performed. The excavation are showing that such buildings date before the implantation of the Monumental Sanctuary.
The new evidence sheds light on the organisation of the Sanctuary itself, according to the model of the main emporic mediterranean sanctuaries. The results of recent fieldwork are also contributing to a better knowledge of Pyrgi's urban asset.
The still on-going ingression of the sea and the alluvial deposits have radically altered the original environmental frame of Caere's main harbour, which was the first to be encountered along the Etruscan coastline sailing up the Tyrrhenian sea. The site was originally endowed with the availability of fresh water and a suitable coastal morphology, that favoured its attendance since the Neolithic period. The revision of the geological map (Di Nezza, Di Filippo 2014) is providing precious information about the morphological asset of the coastal plain, which is nowadays mainly featured by Olocenic alluvial deposits and limited rocky outcrops; the main one corresponds with the promontory at the N limit of the Etruscan settlement. Gravimetric measurements confirm the presence of a vast shallow area N of the settlement, that needs further investigation to establish whether it could have been used in connection with the Etruscan harbour.
As regards the innovative technical aspects of the research, since the electric railway line and the magnetic ferrous sand have so far affected geophysical prospections, new electro-magnetic methods and instruments (multibeam, slingram) are being experimented in the strip of land immediately N of Tp. A (Pubbl. Comp. 14); results are being compared and tested by excavation.
Virtualisation will help further scientific research and allow knowledge sharing and dissemination. A project regarding the virtual reconstruction through the 3D acquisition of structural remains of the Tp. A and B, their terracotta revetments and furniture has recently been promoted (Pubbl. Dott. 22) to improve the dissemination and preserve this exceptional context, which is being dismantled the sea ingression, for Cultural Heritage.
The buildings and stratigraphies included in the new excavation area are also being documented in 3D by means of photomodelling and loaded on a same GIS platform, as to make an overall reconstruction of the sacred area and its infrastructures possible.
As regards the study of the Etruscan site on a large scale, the temptative reconstruction of its original environment will be based on the acquisition of its present morphological features by means of drone or other flying devices (ala planare), combined with the results of tomography. In relation with the fruition of the archaeological area by a public of both scholars and non-specialists, a specific project, also including an app for a virtual tour, is being elaborated.