I Falisci dallo specchio. Cultura materiale, rapporti economici e scelte sociali tra VIII e V sec. a.C.

The paper deals with the urban development of Falerii Veteres and the first outcomes of a research project based at the University of Southampton and at the British School at Rome are presented. It is organized in two sections. A first one, more theoretical, deals with some specific questions concerning the reasons that led to the urban development of Falerii, es- pecially pointing out the role played by the Etruscans – and in particular of Caere – in such a choice. A second part, more concrete, carries out the attempt to draw a clear picture of what happened at Falerii in the centuries between the 8th and the 5th BC, i.e. in the moment in which – according to the presently available data – the urban form completed its develop- ment and therefore became fully perceivable, especially thanks to a long-lasting process of monumentalization of the public spaces. Finally a particular attention is given in the paper to the attempt to reconstruct a topographic model – a kind of grid, possibly useful for future comparative studies on Etruscan urbanism – in which all the available data concerning the organization of the city center, the suburbium and the near extraurban area could fit.