VETULONIA

   An important city of North Etruria of some 120 hectares overlooking the Tyrrhenian coast not far from Roselle. The city was probably occupied from the Late Bronze Age since burials of this date have been found in the important Villanovan cemeteries of Poggio alla Guardia and Poggio Belvedere. The location of the Villanovan burials suggests a gradual concentration of population in one nucleated settlement. The city particularly flourished in the Orientalizing period from when the distinctive circolo tombs date and provide the focal point of much later burial. At this time the city may have had privileged access to the local metallurgical sources (including those of Elba), which led to extensive trade in the eastern Mediterranean, including Olympia and Samos. Some of the more striking funerary elements include the stele of Avele Feluske and the Pietrera tomb. The prosperity of the town continued into the fifth century BC when Roselle took over some of its economic role.

   See also DODECAPOLIS.