Montereggi Archaeological Park

The excavations started around the year 1965 in the territory of Capraia e Limite and gave life to the creation of the Archaeological Park of Montereggi. It gathers evidences of the ancient civilizations that populated the Arno's banks, some of which existed before the Etruscans.

Thanks to the work carried out by the Archaeological and Pottery Museum of Montelupo, some finds that probably date to the Bronze Age in the XII century B.C. have been unearthed, as well as two quite well preserved huts of the same period.
Among the finds, there are also bone artefacts, pottery, small vases, cookers and decorated pots.
According to researchers, the first geographically stable settlements in the area of Montereggi took place at the beginning of the V century B.C. The presence of the Etruscans had remarkable dimensions and it lasted until the I century B.C. At that time, they decided to stay in this area because it was along an old track that led to the ancient Pistoia from Montalbano. Ceramic objects and roughly manufactured articles such as pots, food containers and weaving tools, regarding the first activities in the territory, were found.
While organizing the many evidences chronologically, a group of manufactured articles dating to a more recent period was discovered and they put into evidence the enrichment of this area through commerce. In the Etruscan time, the Arno certainly was a privileged way to exchange goods with all the Mediterranean peoples. This explains the origin of this big settlement along its banks.
In effect, among the objects dating to the V century B.C. there is a "kylix attica", an painted earthen plate attributed to the Athenian painter Codros. Moreover, it is probable that Montereggi was one of the places from where the Hellenic ceramics were carried all over the Val di Pesa and the Valdelsa. Instead, the numerous amphorae that have been discovered and dating to different periods between the IV and the II century B.C. testify the commerce of wine between the Etruscans and the populations of Latium.
This area was abandoned by the Etruscans around the first half of the I century B.C., after the arrival of the Romans. The several amphorae discovered in La Muriccia evidence their presence. They come from different places and testify the intensification of trade with North Africa, a wine producer, Spain, an oil producer, and probably the East, too.