Akademik

   An important Archaic site north of Bomarzo made up of two component parts. The area of Piano Miano comprises a vast tuff plateau of about 45 hectares (180 meters above sea level), naturally fortified on three sides and placed at the confluence of the Vezza River with the middle Tiber River. The most intensively occupied central area was probably about 10 hectares. The area of Monte Casoli is a 500-meter-long tuff plateau (166 meters above sea level) located to the west, probably enclosing a defended area of some five hectares. The two sites acted together to form a strategically placed commercial and military settlement (Piano Miano) and a small defended site (Monte Casoli) covering the larger site’s flank. Both areas appear to have been occupied from the recent or middle Orientalizing period, with more intensive occupation from the sixth century BC and continuity of occupation into the Hellenistic period. The occupation of the area appears to have been relatively unaffected by the Roman conquest.

   The whole area has been the subject of intense research since the 1800s, leading to a distribution of material to locations such as the British Museum as well as to the Vatican and the Villa Giulia. These cemetery finds include Attic black and red figure pottery, parade armor, decorated bronze sheets, and the sarcophagus of Vel Urinates from a painted tomb.