CASALE MARITTIMO

   One of a number of small settlements placed along the Cecina Valley in North Etruria. This settlement has long been famous for a late Orientalizing (circa 625 to 600 BC) tholos tomb at Le Rocche discovered in 1898 and other associated cemeteries. The tholos tomb has been reconstructed in the Florence museum. More recently a late eighth-century village of huts and later, more formal drystone-based rectilinear buildings have been discovered in the ancient habitation area of Casalvecchio, adjoining the medieval and modern settlement. It is the cemetery of Casa Nocera that has provided the most detailed insight into late eighth-century to early sixth-century funerary rites. The oldest slab-lined tomb contained a cinerary urn with the bones wrapped in purple cloth and a set of objects of authority (axe, lance, helmet, scepter, and two carts) and feasting (bronze banquet vessels and luxury foods such as honeycomb, nuts, grapes, and pomegranate). Two seventh-century BC sculptures have distinctive hand gestures. The value of the work has been considerably strengthened by its interdisciplinary nature, including meticulous recording and analysis (in spite of poor bone preservation) of human bone and floral remains, and technical studies of honeycomb, textiles, stone, wood, and metal. Many of these finds are now in a Cecina museum.