BISENZIO (VISENTIUM)

   A significant boundary settlement and town on Bolsena Lake which was probably continuously occupied from the Final Bronze Age into the Archaic period. Over this period the area occupied appears to increase from three to 35 hectares. The settlement came under pressure from neighboring larger cities after the fifth century BC. The Villanovan cemeteries had a higher frequency of hut urns than other Etruscan settlements and elaborate distinctive accessories. The main cemeteries are those of S. Bernardino, Polledara, and Porto Madonna, containing some 157 recorded tombs. However, only the cemetery of S. Bernardino has reliable statistics. In this cemetery of 91 tombs, 40 (43 percent) are inhumations, 51 are cremations (57 percent), and of the cremations only 35 percent are simple holes in the ground (pozzetto), with a larger proportion of cylindrical containers (63 percent) and one with a dolium. The later cemeteries include the late eighth-century BC Olmo Bello, where Tomb 2 contained a woman of some prestige. She was placed in a wooden sarcophagus, with elaborate personal jewelry of bronze, amber, and gold, and accompanied by an elaborate incense burner and a sheet bronze cup, among other objects.