Poggio Montano, a site in the Southern Internal Etruria: landscape history and cultural interactions beetween Iron Age and Orientalising

The necropolis of Poggio Montano represents one of the case studies examined within WP 2 – Assessment of Spoke 8 of the PNRR CHANGES Project. Excavated at the beginning of the twentieth century, the site represents—based on the currently available evidence—an isolated example in the inland area of southern Etruria of a prosperous community dating to the later phases of the Early Iron Age and the Orientalizing period. Particular attention was paid to the geography of the area, the analysis of local resources, and its potential role as a crossroads for commercial routes linking the Po Valley with the Campanian hinterland. The funerary landscape and the spatial organization of the necropolis were examined through their chronological development in order to identify clusters and patterns reflecting social roles and status, the use of rituals related to gender and age groups, and funerary customs. Particular attention was also devoted to the selection of objects within the grave goods as a form of symbolic communication, as well as to the accumulation of specific items—such as Greek-inspired pottery and imported goods—and their implications for patterns of trade and cultural interaction with neighboring regions.