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The Quattro Fontanili Necropolis at Veii: where Villanovan archaeology was born
The Quattro Fontanili necropolis lies just outside the Porta Capena of ancient Veii, on the tufa spur overlooking the spring from which it takes its name. Between 1963 and 1976 digs directed by J. B. Ward-Perkins brought to light approximately 2,000 tombs. Many had been damaged by centuries of ploughing, but the layout of the burials made it possible to reconstruct a precise chronological sequence. Since then, Quattro Fontanili has been the reference site for dating Villanovan (Early Iron Age) culture throughout the Latium region.
Rituals and grave goods
The earliest burials, from the 9th century BC, reveal a rigorous ritual: the deceased was cremated, the bones collected in a biconical urn covered by a bowl or, in the case of warriors, by a pottery helmet. The grave goods reflect social roles: for men, lunate razors, spears and serpentine fibulae; for women, spindle whorls, loom bobbins and hair spirals. From the mid-8th century, imports from the East began to appear — faïence scarabs, amber — evidence of already intensive trading ties.
Horizontal stratigraphy
Quattro Fontanili is of rare methodological value: the oldest tombs occupy the summit of the hill, the more recent ones its slopes. This horizontal stratigraphy made it possible to date the Villanovan phases with precision, and to extend the model to the other necropolises of Veii.
