La città che produce: appunti per una ricerca di archeologia della produzione a Cerveteri in età arcaica

Despite the great importance of Cerveteri in ancient times, the analysis of craft manufactures related to this major Etruscan city is largely based only on the products attributable to it on the basis of more or less con- vincing archaeological speculations. It is now deeply needed a thorough analysis of the urban installations devoted to the production of such objects, even though the target is not an easy one to achieve, because the archaeological investigation has revealed until now mainly sacred areas. The main aim of this paper is there- fore to focus the attention on those neglected aspects of the history of Caere and to draw a general picture of its production systems during the Etruscan period. In the first part of the presentation, some observations are devoted to the main aspects of the issue, paying attention to the socio-economical and historical context. The second part of the paper deals instead with the archaeological evidence related to workshops singled out on different sites of the urban plateau. In particular, the complex case study of the Vigna Parrocchiale site (including the so called Hera Temple area) will be re-examined on the grounds of some published and unpublished materials.