Osservazioni sulle origini id Marsiliana d'Albegna (Manciano, Gr) e nuove ricerche nell'area suburbana

This work tries to shed light on the Etruscan geography of the Albegna Valley, starting from the archaeological profile of Orbetello and considering its possible role of seaport for the nearby centres of Marsiliana d’Albegna and Doganella, under the political influence of Vulci. At the same time, recent discoveries at Marsiliana have highlighted the profile of the centre, lying on a hill system including the Poggio del Castello, the Uliveto di Banditella and a sector of the Poggio di Macchiabuia, defining a large plateau settlement, measuring about 47 hectares. The excavations carried out on the Poggio del Castello have detected intense occupation from Middle Bronze Age up to Final Bronze Age, with a reoccupation in the Orientalizing period; moreover, the suburban area has been investigated through the digging of a Late Archaic monumental building lying on Poggio Alto, named “Casa delle Anfore”. Research in the suburban area has brought to light the emergence of an intense agricultural production promoted by the local communities, including aristocracies and lower classes, who strenghten their role by the end of the 7th century onwards. The foundation of Doganella during the 6th century BC, about 7 km far from Marsiliana, detects the role of such classes in the management of both agricultural production (mainly wine and olives/oil) and trade towards the western Mediterranean coasts. Doganella and Orbetello are therefore eventually identified with the Etruscan polis of Oinaréa, mentioned by Ps. Aristotle inside the De mirabilibus auscultationibus book. The same city could probably match to the centre of *Kamarte, revealed from the late-Archaic stele found at Podere il Bagno nearby Saturnia.