The San Giuliano Archaeological Research Project is in the middle of a tremendously productive 3rdseason. The collaboration between Baylor University, Virgil Academy, Barbarano Romano, and the Soprintendenza has provided a foundation for significant discoveries. We have conducted a survey of Etruscan tombs in the San Giuliano necropolis, and targeted excavations at both the medieval castle of San Giuliano and at selected tombs in the Etruscan necropolis. Emerging from this research is a view into the life, economy, and belief systems of the people of San Giuliano from the 8thcentury BC to the 13thcentury AD. For me personally, I was struck by an important discovery that our team made last week. As part of our intent to uncover the long-term history of this region, we have been searching for archaeological materials from the early Etruscan period. From surveying on the San Simone hilltop (one of 5 hills that surround San Giuliano) we had identified a possible grave in an area known to contain late Villanovan and early Etruscan graves. I expected the tomb to have been looted by tomb-raiders in the past. The first two days of excavation seemed to confirm that the tomb had been disturbed. By the end of the third day, however, we had come to understood that the disturbance was from a post-medieval agricultural trench that had not reached the bottom of the tomb. As we removed the last layer of white limestone rocks overlaying the burial, a small glimmering green object came to light; it was a bronze fibula or dress pin. We knew immediately that the grave was untouched by human hands since the time of its original burial over 2500 years ago. Tomb robbers consistently take the bronze from graves that they encounter, so their presence clearly indicated that this grave was intact. 

Graves such as this early Etruscan grave are purposefully-constructed monuments built by the dead individual’s loved ones. In my view our job as archaeologists is to make these silent remains speak again, to give voice to the deceased and their relatives. The remains of the skeleton were much decayed, but we found fragments and slight shadows of bones as well as preserved teeth and part of the Etruscan person’s mandible. From these remains we can tell that the burial belonged to an adult woman. The artifacts, particularly a ceramic spindle whorl and seven bronze fibulae, are also consistent with identification of the individual as female. The bronze artifacts recovered are exquisite, with one fibula attached to a chain of fine large rings and another including circular disks of amber imported from the Baltic Sea region. Furthermore, we recovered at least thirteen complete ceramic vases, bowls, and cups in the grave, including two very fine impasto cups, a ceramica depurata trilobate pitcher, a two-handled hemispherical brown impasto cup with incised decoration, and a large impasto bowl with evidence of ancient repair. During the burial events these objects were placed in the grave as sacrifices or to accompany the deceased woman into the next world. The ceramics range in date from the second half of the eight century BC to the first half of the seventh century BC, situating the grave assemblage at the threshold between the Villanovan and Etruscan worlds. Work on the artifacts and the bones of this early Etruscan woman from San Giuliano is just beginning. These finds promise to reveal new insights into the period in which the Etruscan civilization emerged. (David Zori, Baylor University)