MONTE BIBELE

   An important late Etruscan and Celtic settlement in the Apennines near Bologna that has been excavated by the University of Bologna since the 1970s. This upland area of some 200 hectares was occupied in the Late Bronze Age and then again between the late fifth century BC and the early second century BC. In the early fourth century BC, the area was terraced for the construction of houses. A cemetery was located 200 meters to the northwest at Monte Tamburino, where some 134 graves have been discovered and interpreted as a traditional cremation rite (Etruscan) replaced by an incoming inhumation rite (Celtic) from about 350 BC. Inscriptions on pottery at the site are Etruscan.