Women on the move and the emergence of Etruscan urban polities (Veii, Italy, first millennium BCE)

Veii was an emerging urban center in Tyrrhenian Central Italy, playing a crucial role in the development of the Etruscan society at the beginning of the first millennium BCE. Strategically situated close to the Tiber River, Veii controlled extensive trade networks and prospered through economic and cultural exchanges with Italic and Mediterranean groups. This study investigates human mobility and gender at the Quattro Fontanili necropolis (ca. 820–730 BCE), using strontium isotope ratio ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) and proteomic analysis of dental enamel (amelogenin) for sex determination of 44 inhumed individuals. Results reveal a good correlation between biological sex and funerary gender indicators, particularly in high-status burials. Evidence of non-local individuals at Veii is limited, lower than at comparable sites, and predominantly associated with medium to lower-status women, while elite burials with imported grave goods belong consistently to 87 Sr/ 86 Sr isotopically local individuals. These findings illuminate the social and economic strategies underpinning early urbanisation and polity formation in Etruria.