Tolfa

TOLFA Italy.

A modern town 24 km NE of Cerveteri. In its environs are two important centers, one protohistoric and the other Etrusco-Archaic. The latter is on the height where the medieaval castle of Rota stands. It is an important pagus of Etruscan Caere, surrounded by numerous necropoleis in the vicinity of Ferrone, Pian Cisterna, Pian Conserva, Pian Li Santi, S. Pietro and Brandita. It is characterized by chamber tombs of the Caerean type dating from the 7th to the 5th c. B.C. A small country sanctuary with two little temples within a temenos and a small votive deposit are at Grasceta dei Cavallari. The material excavated in the area is largely preserved in the Civic Museum of Tolfa and in the antiquarium at Allumiere.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

S. Bastianelli, StEtr 13 (1939) 94ff; O. Toti, I Monti Ceriti nell'Età del Ferro (1961) MPI; id., Allumiere e il suo territorio (1969) M; M. Del Chiaro, AJA 66 (1962) 49ffM; EAA 7 (1966) 904-6 (M. Torelli); A. Stefanini, Recenti scoperte archeologiche nel territorio di Tolfa (1966) MP.

M. TORELLI