Ritorno alle origini di Caere. La ripresa degli studi sulla necropoli di Cava della Pozzolana

This article highlights the complex history of the excavations in the Cava della Pozzolana necropolis and the difficulties faced first by the excavators at the beginning of the last century and then by scholars who tried to study the finds. The first discoveries of burials in this area date back to 1902 when laborers working in the quarry on Prince Ruspoli’s estate stumbled upon some ancient tombs. However, the official recognition of an “archaic” – Early Iron Age – necropolis in this location came in 1910, when R. Mengarelli, the director of excavations for the Civitavecchia and Tolfa districts, conducted preliminary explorations. In fact, Mengarelli obtained that with each expansion of the extraction area, the exploration of the sector destined for the quarry had to be carried out first. The excavations immediately took on the character of an “emergency excavation” before the term was even coined, and they continued without systematicity, depending on the quarry’s requirements, until 1943. What came to light was one of the largest Villanovan burial grounds of Caere, with a total of 466 contexts recovered, 96% of which preliminarily dated between the 9th and 8th centuries BC. Mengarelli never published the results of his research, and despite some attempts to bridge this gap, first by R. Vighi and later by L. D’Erme, the discovered materials have remained unpublished to this day. The work was recently resumed as part of a doctoral project, carried out by the writer, at the Sapienza University of Rome. In this article, we aim to provide an initial overview of the current state of knowledge regarding the necropolis and offer some preliminary insights into the ongoing work.