The Etruscan settlement of Ghiaccio Forte

The Etruscan settlement of Ghiaccio Forte.

On the hill of Ghiaccio Forte on the northern bank of the Albegna river, about 15 km from Scansano (GR), an Etruscan fortified settlement of the fourth century BC was found (although the place was already frequented in the VII – VI centuries BC). Probably the center is part of the phenomenon of colonization of the countryside of Vulci.

The settlement was brought to light thanks to the report in 1970 of a local archeology enthusiast, Zelindo Biagiotti, and to the subsequent excavation campaigns

Built in a strategic position, the town, which covers about 4 hectares and has a shape of eight, is defended by a wall that winds for about 1 km. The walls, now visible in a few sections, had a thickness of about 4 m and could be around 6 m high. The construction of the walls was probably the answer to the growing threat of the Romans. The defensive work consisted of a low stone base and vestments, inside and outside, formed by large alluvial pebbles, with a filling of stones and smaller pebbles.

In the wall circuit were found three large gates (north-west, south-east and south): they had a chamber plan (quadrangular) and their defense was favored by bastions that allowed to hit the enemies approaching the entrance. The doors, made of travertine, sandstone and nenfro, were crossed by a cobbled road and there were also roads inside the town that delimited the housing structures.

At the center of the sediment, in a saddle, a rather articulated housing complex has been identified, consisting of several rooms that overlooked a central courtyard. The floor was made of rammed earth and the roof, supported by a wooden beam, was covered with tiles and tiles. Rooms of different sizes and with various functions have been identified: two pantries (remains of doli), a bathroom with a bathtub made from a block of nenfro, a kitchen with an oven (made from a dolio) and a ceramic stove. In front of the house there was a well for collecting rainwater.

In the village were also found pincers and various slag from the iron processing process and a small kiln for ceramics.

To the west of the town there must have been a place of worship as attested by the discovery of a deposit of votive offerings (bronzes and terracotta of male and female bidders, animals and human anatomical parts). Some bronzes depicting a young figure holding a billhook have led to the hypothesis that the cult of Selvans was practiced there, which protected borders and fertility.

The end of the center would have occurred violently, as attested by the significant traces of burning found on the site, in the first part of the third century BC, perhaps around 280 BC, date of the Roman conquest of Vulci and its territory.

On the center of Ghiaccio Forte see, among others, Anna Talocchini, Il Ghiaccio Forte, 1986, Edition edited by the Municipality of Scansano; Museo Archeologico di Scansano curated by Marco Firmati and Paola Rendini, Nuova Immagine, 2002, pagg. 33 et seq., and p. 70 et seq.; Marco Firmati, Fra gli Etruschi di Ghiaccio Forte, Archeologia Viva, May/June 2001 pagg. 62 et seq.

Below are the images of the plan, the town, the north-west gate, the south-east gate of Ghiaccio Forte and the bronzes with billhooks exhibited at the Archaeological Museum of Scansano.