Osservazioni preliminari sulla ceramica orientalizzante dallo scavo di piazzetta dei Fornelli

The research focuses on the analysis of the ceramics of the Orientalizing period from the excavation of piazzetta dei Fornelli in Volterra. The study of the finds shows how the settlement was already developed in the first phase of the Orientalizing period. The main classes analyzed are the impasto, the bucchero and the vases painted in red and white technique. Among the bucchero ceramics, a kyathos Rasmussen 3 is recognizable, belonging to a group of similar vases of high symbolic value, often with an inscription. These vases are the subject of a scientific debate concerning the area of production: these new fragments, together with the famous Monteriggioni vase and other fragments from the territory of Volterra, testify to their diffusion also in this part of Etruria. Equally interesting are some fragments of vases that imitate types of the Protocorinthian period, and others related to the oldest Etrusco-Corinthian productions of southern Etruria. The data thus confirm the vitality of the settlement of Volterra, which by the mid-7th century BC, is already integrated into the dense network of traffic involving the main settlements of southern Etruria and the Po Valley.