Internet Archaeology 4. Perkins. 7.0

7.0 Conclusions

The Albegna Valley/Ager Cosanus survey has recovered an assemblage of Etruscan pottery from a well-defined area of Southern Tuscany. This publication forms the first account of a collection derived from a systematic field survey in Etruria. This fact allows us to assume that the pots here are a representative sample of what can be found in the fields of the Albegna Valley. The collection is not necessarily a representative sample of all of the pots which were used in the Albegna Valley during the Etruscan period. This can be seen most readily by comparing the general survey material with the tomb group from Poggio Volpaio which also lacks its fine wares or the excavated contents of tombs (e.g. Minto 1925). The survey material derives largely from settlement sites and even then only contains those pots that were discarded at the site and survived the rigours of post-depositional processes like ploughing and survey techniques. The collection is also very fragmentary; a glance at the figures demonstrates that few complete forms were found. These factors must be taken into consideration when drawing conclusions from the collection. Despite these limitations the collection has an important role to play in Etruscan studies because it acts as a balance to the overall impression of Etruscan pottery which has been largely established from the study of tomb groups. Compare for example the bucchero published in a major study by Tom Rasmussen (Rasmussen 1979) with the meagre collection of bucchero from the survey. Another important aspect of the collection is that it derives from a regional study with a broad chronological span so a different range of interpretations are possible to those which can be made from the study of the ceramics from a single site.