Padanian Etruria
An organized political-economic system
6th – 4th centuries B.C.
During the 6th century B.C. an organized political-economic system begins to emerge in the territory between the Adriatic, the Apennines and the Mantova area. Felsina (Bologna) was most likely the administrative center of this system, along with other urban centers, including Spino as a commercial port, and Marzabotto and Mantova as strategic outposts.
In the 5th century B.C. the Modena area appears densely occupied by a series of agricultural settlements, but the main evidence comes from the necropolises, in particular from the 19th century rediscovery of the Galassina di Castelvetro and the nearby small farm Nosadella. Tombs 1 and 2 of the Galassina belong to two members of the Etruscan aristocracy that in the 5th century must have governed a small center, almost certainly located on the fortress of Castelvetro. In addition to cinerary urns, among which the large bronze situla stands out, there are also all the pieces of the banquet goods in bronze and black-figure ceramics with which members of the wealthy classes were buried.
Another important core of finds is attributable to the areas of worship along the Apennine transit routes that connected northern, central and Tyrrhenian Etruria, which were used both for commercial trading and herding. The numerous bronzes used as ex-votos cover a chronological period ranging from the 6th to the 4th century B.C.
Although the presence of an Etruscan city in Modena has not yet been archaeologically documented, some clues—such as the discovery in the Reggiano area of a bowl fragment that bears an inscription with the gentilitial mutna—may suggest the existence of an urban installation even during this period.