Fortified Settlement of Ghiaccioforte - 3 - Votive Offering

The discovery of votive offerings on the western hill of Ghiaccioforte testifies to the existence of a place of worship. In fact, it was an ancient custom to leave votive offerings near a sanctuary, which steadily accumulated.

The objects retrieved in the cache of votive offerings of Ghiaccioforte, preserved in the museum of Scansano, are mostly reproductions of parts of human anatomies, placed there to ask the divinity for the healing of an illness, or as thanks for a past healing.

The presence of two bronze statuettes, representing youths grasping a billhook, offers some indication of the kind of worship practiced in this place: it was probably connected to the agricultural activities of the area, as the iconography of the two statuettes would lead us to believe; they probably represent Selvans, typical Etruscan rural gods.

Fortified Settlement of Ghiaccioforte - 2 (Scansano - Gr)

The settlement was built up within the city walls: some spaces were brought to light that made up part of the only living complex, where rooms were distributed around an open-air courtyard.

At the present time, all that is visible is the skirting foundations of the walls formed by a plinth of calcareous rock, while the raised portion, none of which has been preserved, was probably made of unbaked clay.

The floor was made of simple beaten earth or pebbles, whereas the roof was made of bricks and tiles as proven by the fragments of bricks recovered.

Based on the objects found inside, the various functions of some rooms can be identified.

In particular, the finding of an oven, derived from half of a dolium, cut vertically and placed on the ground, and the presence of a cooker, inserted into a niche dug into the inner wall, leads us to believe that the room, from whence these objects came, was used as a kitchen.

The corner of the bath can be identified by the furnishings composed of a terracotta basin and a bathtub derived from a block of decorated stone, both of which are preserved in the museum of Scansano.

In order to construct the tub, a copy of which can still be seen on site, an altar coming from the area of worship was probably reused; the area of worship presumably rose here in antiquity before the settlement of the Roman era.

One space, which was isolated to date with respect to the others, contained large doliums used for preserving foodstuffs: thus, its function was most likely that of a pantry.

The settlement restored many finds in ceramic: crockery and glassware for use at table and containers for preserving food. In addition, the presence of tongs, perhaps from a forger, and finished products, like weapons, indicate local metallurgical manufacturing.

Fortified Settlement of Ghiaccioforte (Scansano - Gr)

Established in the 4th century B.C., the fortified settlement of Ghiaccioforte rose in the valley of Albegna, in the territory controlled by the ancient Etruscan city of Vulci.

The place chosen probably hosted a sanctuary, in antiquity, and previous settlers were housed in the homes scattered on the surrounding hills.

Its position was strategically placed for controlling and defending the Vulci territory in an era in which the pressure from Rome was becoming increasingly forceful in a general climate of political instability.

The end of the settlement of Ghiaccioforte was ultimately marked by the Roman conquest of the Etruscan city of Vulci and its surroundings in 280 B.C.

Once having settled there, the conquerors proceeded to reorganise the territory: new cities were built, such as Cosa (Ansedonia), but pre-existing sites, such as Saturnia and the settlement of Ghiaccioforte were also destroyed; the latter was never reconstructed. After the destruction, the location was intermittently inhabited, while the settling of new Roman farms changed the landscape of the surrounding hills.

Having been deserted and no longer occupied by a stable settlement, the environs reverted to pastureland over time. The name given to it today probably alludes to the destroyed fortified centre and the use the location had thereafter: ghiaccio from "addiaccio" (pen – shelter for the herd at night) and forte (fort) to indicate the remains of the Etruscan walls that never completely disappeared from view.