The Archaeological Park of Baratti and Populonia is located in the township of

Piombino Piombino is an Italian town and ''comune'' of about 35,000 inhabitants in the province of Livorno (Tuscany). It lies on the border between the Ligurian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea, in front of Elba Island and at the northern side of Maremma. Ove ...

(

Province of Livorno The province of Livorno or, traditionally, province of Leghorn ( it, provincia di Livorno) is a province in the Tuscany region of Italy. It includes several islands of the Tuscan Archipelago, including Elba and Capraia. Its capital is the city of ...

) and covers about 80 hectares between the slopes of the promontory of Piombino and the Gulf of Baratti coast. It is part of The Parks of Val di Cornia and was opened in 1998 for visitors to view some of the archaeological sites and remains found in the new digs

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

conducted in the area since 1996. The park includes several areas from the ancient

Etruscan __NOTOC__ Etruscan may refer to: Ancient civilization *The Etruscan language, an extinct language in ancient Italy *Something derived from or related to the Etruscan civilization **Etruscan architecture **Etruscan art **Etruscan cities ** Etrusca ...

city of

Populonia Populonia or Populonia Alta (Etruscan: ''Pupluna'', ''Pufluna'' or ''Fufluna'', all pronounced ''Fufluna''; Latin: ''Populonium'', ''Populonia'', or ''Populonii'') today is a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Piombino (Tuscany, central Italy). As o ...

, the necropolis of San Cerbone, Casone and the grotto, and the cave of

calcarenite Calcarenite is a type of limestone that is composed predominantly, more than 50 percent, of detrital (transported) sand-size (0.0625 to 2 mm in diameter), carbonate grains. The grains consist of sand-size grains of either corals, shells, ooi ...

. Inside the park is an experimental archeological laboratory. There are currently several proposed routes: * San Cerbone necropolis, with tombs from the 7th-6th century BC; * the "Via delle Cave": from fields of the Arpa, a path leading to Etruscan cave of calcarenite (or stone bench), with tombs carved into the rock of the necropolis from the 4th-3rd BC * the "Via del Ferro" a path along the coast with the experimental archeology laboratory, which offers a glimpse into the industrial districts of the city, where housing buildings for the manufacture of

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

can be found dating from the (6th-3rd century BC); * nature trails along the edge of the Caves. In 2007 a third area of the park was opened, the acropolis, which is located at the Castle in upper Populonia and includes remains from the most ancient Etruscans, up to the Romans.

Bibliography

* Andrea Semplici, ''Parco Archeologico di Baratti e Populonia. Percorsi di visita per conoscere un territorio'', Firenze, Edizioni Polistampa, 2000

External links

Parchi della Val di Cornia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baratti And Populonia Archeological Park Parks in Tuscany Piombino Archaeological sites in Tuscany National museums of Italy

See also

Bibliography

External links