Excavations in an Etruscan Well at Cetamura del Chianti: A Preliminary Report

The report reviews the results of four campaigns of excavation in an Etruscan well at Cetamura del Chianti (2011–2014). Dug to a depth of 100 Etruscan feet around 300 B.C.E., the well was in use throughout the Late Etruscan period, overlapping in a transitional phase with the Roman Republican period (ca. 100–50 B.C.E.), and continuing in use during the early Roman Imperial period down to about 68 C.E. In the Middle Ages the shaft was subject to frequent dumping operations. This article analyzes the stratigraphy into eight chronological groups to create a framework for dating the deposits of thousands of items: bronze and silver coins, bronze situlae (buckets), artifacts of iron and iron scoriae, wooden artifacts, local and imported ceramics, astragali and other offerings associated with divination, miniature vessels, loom weights, items of personal adornment (rings of bone and bronze; ringstones of glass), implements of metal and worked bone, and floral and faunal remains.