# Multi-Parametric Imaging of Etruscan Chamber Toms:
## 2 Materials and Methods  
### Geological and Archeological Settings  
The study area is located a few kilometers north of the Bolsena Lake in the Vulsini Volcanic District, which is characterized by four emission centers that were active 600,000-100,000 years ago, and are now represented by the caldera collapses of Bolsena Lake, Montefiascone, Latera, and Vepe (2017). The study area lies on a tuff ridge, which is the result of the deposition and subsequent weathering of volcanic ashes from the Latera Complex ([PERSON] et al., 2017; [PERSON] et al., 2017). In the study area, the chemical composition of the rocks is mainly characterized by potassium, rubidium, thorium, uranium, and volatile elements, such as chlorine and fluorine. The origin of the K-rich magmatic activity is related to the development of the eastern extensional structures of the Tyrrhenian basin, which occurred between the orogenic belt of the Apennines and the slow spreading center of the Tyrrhenian Sea [23].  
The Grotte di Castro area and its surroundings have been of interest to human occupation since the early Middle Paleolithic (35-100 ka), wherein the earliest evidence of human occupation are Musterian lithic assemblages [34]. At the beginning of the Archae Age, the settlement of Civita acquired relevance by becoming, and was reconstructed to be [24], the northernmost point of the defense system organized and kept in use by Volsnii from the VI to the III century BCE. During the VI century, the settlement occupied part of the upper hillside with a total area of approximately 24 ha and remained seemingly prosperous, not without inconsistencies, until the end of this period. Aside from the Casali Centocamere and Pianezze, the Vigna la Piazza necropolis is one of the most important Etruscan funeral sites among those found and investigated in the immediate surroundings of the Civita plateau. It lies less than one kilometer northwest of the northernmost edge of the plateau at 427.2 m ASL on the SP48 road, which connects the Grotte di Castro with the Bolsena lakefront area. Approximately 30 m west of the necropolis, a segment of an ancient \"tagliata tufacea\", a path running in a man-made tuff gorge, testifies to the Etruscan road system connecting the Civita plateau with the surrounding necropolis and wider landscape. This necropolis was in use from the end of the VIII century to the beginnings of the V century BCE, thus making it the most ancient of those around Civita. It is characterized by both individual burial sites in simple pits or pits with lithic sarcophagi and multiple burials within rock-cut chamber tombs pertaining to the most characteristic local types (Figure 2). These tombs are formed by a dromos (access corridor) and an atrium (central room), providing access to the tablinum and cubicula funerary rooms [1; 24; 34]. This particular tomb typology was chosen for the present study because of the strong geophysical and geochemical signature given the expected contrast between the rock-cut chambers walls and the infill (either empty or filled with soil).  
Figure 2: Schematic tomb structure. (**a**) Plan and (**b**) cross-section view of one of the rock-cut chamber tombs in Vigna la Piazza (VLP7) showing the typical burial morphology. Adapted from [24].