# Villanovan culture

The Villanovan culture (c. 900–700 BCE), regarded as the earliest phase of the Etruscan civilization, was the earliest Iron Age culture of Italy. It directly followed the Bronze Age Proto-Villanovan culture which branched off from the Urnfield culture of Central Europe. The name derives from the locality of Villanova, a fraction of the municipality of Castenaso in the Metropolitan City of Bologna where, between 1853 and 1855, Giovanni Gozzadini found the remains of a necropolis, bringing to light 193 tombs, of which there were 179 cremations and 14 inhumations.
The Villanovans introduced iron-working to the Italian Peninsula. They practiced cremation and buried the ashes of their dead in pottery urns of distinctive double-cone shape.

## History

The name Villanovan of the early phases of the Etruscan civilization comes from the site of the first archaeological finds relating to this advanced culture, which were remnants of a cemetery found near Villanova (Castenaso, 12 kilometres east of Bologna) in northern Italy. The excavation lasting from 1853 to 1855 was done by the scholar and site owner, count Giovanni Gozzadini, and involved 193 tombs, six of which were separated from the rest as if to signify a special social status. The "well tomb" pit graves lined with stones contained funerary urns. These had been only sporadically plundered and most were untouched. In 1893, a chance discovery unearthed another distinctive Villanovan necropolis at Verucchio overlooking the Adriatic coastal plain.
The burial characteristics relate the Villanovan culture to the Central European Urnfield culture (c. 1300–750 BCE) and Celtic Hallstatt culture that succeeded the Urnfield culture. It is not possible to tell these apart in their earlier stages. Cremated remains were placed in cinerary urns, specifically in biconical urns and then buried. The urns were a form of Villanovan pottery known as impasto. A custom believed to originate with the Villanovan culture is the usage of hut-shaped urns, which were cinerary urns fashioned like the huts in which the villagers lived. Typical sgraffito decorations of swastikas, meanders, and squares were scratched with a comb-like tool. Urns were accompanied by simple bronze fibulae, razors and rings.

## Periodization

The Villanovan culture is broadly divided into Villanovan I from c. 960 BCE to c. 801 BCE and the Villanovan II from c. 800 BCE to 720 BCE. The later phase (Villanovan II) saw radical changes, evidence of contact with Hellenic civilization and trade with the north along the Amber Road. This evidence takes the form of glass and amber necklaces for women, armor and horse harness fittings of bronze, and the development of elite graves in contrast to the earlier egalitarian culture. Chamber tombs and inhumation (burial) practices were developed side-by-side with the earlier cremation practices. With the last phase of Villanovan II the Etruscans, in particular Southern Etruria, entered the Orientalizing period. The northernmost areas of the Etruscan world, such as Etruria Padana, continued in their development as Villanovan III (750–680 BCE) and Villanovan IV (680–540 BCE).

### Villanovan chronology within the Etruscan civilization

| Etruscan civilization (900–27 BCE) | Villanovan period (900–720 BCE) | Villanovan I | 900–800 BCE |
| Etruscan civilization (900–27 BCE) | Villanovan period (900–720 BCE) | Villanovan II | 800–720 BCE |
| Etruscan civilization (900–27 BCE) | Villanovan period (900–720 BCE) | Villanovan III (Bologna area) | 720-680 BCE |
| Etruscan civilization (900–27 BCE) | Villanovan period (900–720 BCE) | Villanovan IV (Bologna area) | 680-540 BCE |
| Etruscan civilization (900–27 BCE) | Orientalizing period (720–580 BCE) | Early Orientalizing | 720–680 BCE |
| Etruscan civilization (900–27 BCE) | Orientalizing period (720–580 BCE) | Middle Orientalizing | 680–625 BCE |
| Etruscan civilization (900–27 BCE) | Orientalizing period (720–580 BCE) | Late Orientalizing | 625–580 BCE |
| Etruscan civilization (900–27 BCE) | Archaic period (580–480 BCE) | Archaic | 580–480 BCE |
| Etruscan civilization (900–27 BCE) | Classical period (480–320 BCE) | Classical | 480–320 BCE |
| Etruscan civilization (900–27 BCE) | Hellenistic period (320–27 BCE) | Hellenistic | 320–27 BCE |

## Metalwork and trade

The metalwork quality found in bronze and pottery demonstrate the skill of the Villanovan artisans. Some grave goods from burial sites display an even higher quality, suggesting the development of societal elites within Villanovan culture. Tools and items were placed in graves suggesting a belief in an afterlife. Men's graves contained weapons, armor, while those for women included weaving tools. A few graves switched or mixed these, indicating the possibility that some women employed tools and that some men made clothing.
During the Villanovan period Etruscans traded with other states from the Mediterranean such as Greeks, Balkans, and Sardinia. Trade brought about advancement in metallurgy, and Greek presence influenced Villanovan pottery.

## Housing

Buildings were rectangular in shape. The people lived in small huts, made of wattle and daub with wooden poles for support. Within the huts, cooking stands, utensils and charred animal bones give evidence about the family life of early inhabitants in Italy. Some huts contained large pottery jars for food storage sunk into their floors. There was also a rock cut drain to channel rainwater to communal reservoirs.

## Villanovan settlements

Generally speaking, Villanovan settlements were centered in the Adriatic Etruria, in Emilia Romagna (in particular, in Bologna and in Verucchio, near Rimini), in Marche (Fermo), and in the Tyrrhenian Etruria, in Tuscany and Lazio. Further south, Villanovan cremation burials are to be found in Campania, at Capua, at the "princely tombs" of Pontecagnano near Salerno, at Capo di Fiume, at Vallo di Diano and at Sala Consilina.
Small scattered Villanovan settlements have left few traces other than their more permanent burial sites, which were set somewhat apart from the settlements—largely because the settlement sites were built over in Etruscan times. Modern opinion generally follows Massimo Pallottino in regarding the Villanovan culture as ancestral to the Etruscan civilization.

## Genetics

A genetic study published in Science in November 2019 examined the remains of a female from the Villanovan culture buried in Veio Grotta Gramiccia, Italy between ca. 900 BCE and 800 BCE. She carried the maternal haplogroup K1a4, found all over Europe since Neolithic times, and her autosomal DNA was a mixture of 72.9% Copper Age ancestry (EEF + WHG) and 27.1% Steppe-related ancestry. There was evidence for consanguinity for this sample with another ancient sample (700 BCE - 600 BCE) from the Etruscan necropolis of La Mattonara near Civitavecchia, compatible with being the latter an offspring of third-degree relatives from the former.

## Gallery

* Decorative disk (chest guard), bronze, Italy, 8th century BC. Schaffhausen, Museum zu Allerheiligen, Ebnöther Collection (Department “Warriors/Weapons”).
* Biconical cinerary urn with helmet-shaped lid, 9th-8th century BC. BC, from Monterozzi (Fontanaccia), Tarquinia, Museo archeologico nazionale.
* Etruscan crested bronze helmet from Visentium (Bisenzio), necropolis of Bucacce, tomb 1. Mid-8th century. National Archaeological Museum of Florence, inv. 85531.
* Villanovan biconical cinerary urn with impasto ceramic lid, -850/-800. National Archaeological Museum G.C.Mecenate - MIBAC.
* Gold plates covering fibulae, Guerruccia necropolis, tomb S1, 730-700 BC. Guarnacci Museum.
* Gold plates covering fibulae, Guerruccia necropolis, tomb S1, 730-700 BC. Guarnacci Museum.
* Lunar razor with engraved hunting scene, -9th-8th century, from the Villanovan necropolis of Vetulonia. Museo archeologico et d’arte della Maremma.
* Bronze spear and javelin tip, 9th-8th century BC, from the necropolis of Colfiorito, Foligno.
* Ribbed bronze plaque cup from the Fairground burial site, grave 154, Villanovan III, 750-700 BC.
* Three-prong clasp and buckle. LACMA M.76.97.873a-b.
* Funerary furniture from male tomb 871 of the necropolis of Casal del Fosso, circa 730-720 BC.
* Imported pilgrim's flask, 725-700 BC
* Funerary furniture from male tomb 871 of the necropolis of Casal del Fosso, circa 730-720 BC. Circular bronze parade shield decorated with rows of raised dots.
* Belt buckle, circa 800-750 BC
* Serpentine brooches with stirrup, 900-850 BC
* Round shield decorated with concentric bands in relief with horses and circles, bronze, Necropolis of the Four Fountains, shaft tomb AA1, 750 BC
* Bronze situla, Narce, Petrina necropolis, tomb 4, 730-720 BC
* Bronze urn in the shape of a hut, from the Osteria necropolis, circa 800-750 BC.
* Biconical vase with helmet-shaped lid and hut-shaped top, from the Osteria Necropolis, 850-800 BC.
* Cinerary vase with lid in the shape of a high-crested helmet, bronze, Necropolis of the Four Fountains, shaft tomb AA1, 750 BC.
* Biconical bronze vase, possibly from Vulci, 720-700 BC.
* Louvre, Villanovian objects..
* Villanovian woman's belt (Verucchio)
* Villanovan bronze globular vase, originally for perfumes and incense, then as a cinerary, circa 750-725 BC, tomb 74 of Montevetrano.
* Crested helmet from the warrior's tomb at Poggio alle Croci.
* Vulci workshop, house-shaped cinerary urn, 8th century BC.
* MET DP132251 terracotta two-handled bowl
* Biconical ossuary, 9th-7th century.
* Villanovian bit, LACMA AC1992.152.17.
* Double spiral bronze pendants, from the island of Giglio, Campese region, 10th-9th century.
* Bronze necklace (torc), from the island of Giglio, Campese region, 10th-9th century.
* Bronze harness trapping in the shape of a horse. Villanovan, 9th–8th century BCE. LACMA.