TUFF

   The technical term for the consolidated ash deposits of volcanic origin that make up much of the landscape of South Etruria. The Italian terms tufo or tufa are sometimes employed colloquially in English, but can be confused with the technical term tufa, which is a deposit of calcium carbonate of very different origin, precipated from water. The tuff deposits are typically incised by rivers to form distinctive plateaux for settlement. The large plateaux were occupied by the major Etruscan cities. The smaller plateaux or spurs were occupied by Final Bronze Age sites (e.g., Sorgenti della Nova) and smaller Etruscan settlements (e.g., Bagnoregio, Blera, Pitigliano). The following are among the sites that took advantage of the tuff geology to form natural limits to sites, both large and small: Caere, Capena, Castellaccio, Castel d’Asso, Castro, Celleno, Civita Del Fosso di Arlena, Civita di Grotte di Castro, Grotta Porciosa, La Ferriera, Monte Piombone, Norchia, Orte, Pian Miano/Monte Casoli, Piantorena, Poggio di Sermugnano, Pontone, Rocca Respampani, Rocca Sberna, Sovana, Torre d’Ischia, Torre Stroppa, Vacchereccia, Vallerano, and Vignanello.

   See also CUNICOLI; DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE.