The Etruscan town of Vetulonia (Castiglione della Pescaia, GR) has been the object of numerous archaeological investigations mainly undertaken between the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century by Isidoro Falchi, doctor and amateur archaeologist. This research led to the discovery and excavation of part of the Hellenistic-Roman town and of large sections of the Villanovan and Orientalizing cemetery. The question that remains to be answered is the position of Vetulonia’s harbours and landing places on the ancient lake Prile. The wealth of the Etruscan town probably derived from the control of trade in raw materials from the Colline Metallifere, which reached the shores of lake Prile through the Bruna valley. Therefore, it is very probable that there were harbours or landing places on the lake shore close to the town, in places that were well-connected both to the town and the river Bruna. However, the uncertainty about the extension of the northern part of the lake and the obliterations resulting from modern land reclamation in the area, means that the positions of harbours or landing places serving Vetulonia on the northern shores of lake Prile are largely unknown. Between 2016-2018 the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut Rom carried out four geophysical surveys in the localities of Uliveto, Basse agli Olmi, Badia Vecchia, Sestica and Poggetto, situated on the extremities of the Vetulonia hill, to the north-east of the present-day borgo. The surveys identified an area of great archaeological interest – already marked on the archaeological maps made by C. B. Curry – situated at the end of the via dei Sepolcri that leads to the borgo of Vetulonia. The images clearly show a U-shaped linear anomaly, c. 600 m long, with a rounded northern edge. The line encloses an area of c. 280 x 100 m inside which no anthropic anomalies were identified. Outside this structure there were numerous other anomalies of smaller dimensions, to be interpreted as the remains of masonry or brick-built structures with tile roofs. In 2018, a campaign of core-sampling was undertaken in collaboration with the Freie Universität of Berlin. To the south of the large U-shaped structure, the cores documented the presence of layers relating to lake waters starting at a depth of 2.7 – 3.8 m from ground level. The sediments were between 40 cm thick in the core closest to the anthropic structures and at least 7 m thick in the core taken at 370 m south of them. The four cores taken inside the U-shaped structure contained neither anthropological materials nor lacustrine layers, rather the sediments were made up of a series of homogeneous compact sterile clays. The latter may be interpreted, at least in part, as colluvial/fluvial deposits from the surrounding hills. The C14 analysis on samples from three of the cores provided a date for the lacustrine and marine sediments between the early Holocene and the medieval period (c. 8399 – 300 cal BP for core VE5).

The main aim of the 2019 campaign was to clarify the nature and dating of the structures identified by the geophysical surveys. The excavation area was chosen based on the survey images and included both part of the curved structure and part of the smaller rectangular anomalies. A 10 x 6 m trench made it possible to excavate various types of structures identified by the surveys. The large U-shaped structure was shown to be an imposing well-preserved curvilinear wall, probably datable to the Etrusco-Hellenistic period. A series of rooms identified to the north of this structure were of later date (late Hellenistic-Republican). At present, the material finds do not provide any clue as to the use of the area and structures, although there was evidence suggesting production activities. The presence of a large walled structure surrounding an area devoid of any occupation evidence and the vicinity of ancient lacustrine layers suggest that it may be interpreted as a basin that was occasionally filled with water, for example a landing place, a dry dock, an arsenal or another infrastructure relating to the lake or the river.

After a year's break from the pandemic, a caroggi campaign and an excavation campaign took place in 2021 as part of the research project. The core drilling campaign, carried out in collaboration with the Institute of Geographical Sciences of the Free University of Berlin, made it possible to carry out a further twenty cores, many of which returned sediments of ancient calm waters, even several meters long. These findings made it possible to delineate in more detail the extension of the Prile lagoon near the site under excavation and the Etruscan city of Vetulonia. The archaeological excavation involved a section of the monumental terrace and an environment located north of it, thus continuing the investigations begun in 2019. The terrace is preserved in height for at least four rows of square blocks. The structure was probably built during the Etruscan-Hellenistic period (4th-3rd century BC). A series of tiled roofs opened onto the terrace, the function of which is not yet clear. In the environment investigated, the materials mainly refer to the third century BC. C. The excavations are carried out under ministerial concession and in cooperation with the Municipality of Castiglione della Pescaia (GR).

The excavation campaign that took place in May-June 2022 led to the exhaustion of the archaeological deposit in much of the essay begun in 2019. The investigation of a portion of the monumental terrace which is configured as an imposing block wall was completed squared preserved for approx. 2 meters high, in which a channel opens for the outlet of the water coming from the rooms above. The finds found in the layers to be related to the construction of the terrace seem to date back to the fifth century. to. C. The room located on the terrace, whose investigation was begun in 2021, is configured as a rectangular room open on the south side. Numerous interventions of reconstruction of the walls, unfortunately poorly preserved, and the presence of at least two clearly distinct phases, allow us to postulate an extended use over time. The materials found are preliminary dated between the V / IV and the II century BC. C. Between the second and the beginning of the first century B.C. the area is finally abandoned and the remains of the buildings thrown south of the terrace. The function of the structures found is still unclear, as is its relationship with the lagoon. Whether the abandonment of infrastructures is linked to the change in the extension of the lagoon is one of the questions that the research project intends to answer with future campaigns. The excavations are carried out under ministerial concession and in cooperation with the Municipality of Castiglione della Pescaia (GR).