Traditionally excavation reports are comprised of catalogues of materials found, establishing chronological sequences, and sometimes include an interpretative synthesis of the area excavated. This volume dedicated to La Castellina is this, but is much more, and sets a new standard for excavation directors to follow. The settlement of La Castellina, located on a hill some 5 km south of the town of Civitavecchia in northern Lazio, presents valuable evidence of human activity from the Bronze Age down to the Roman period. The volume under review, edited by the directors of the most recent explorations, presents a substantive assessment of the settlement. The book itself is monumental. A selection of statistics attests to the enormous labours involved in its production: 1,223 pages, containing 365 plates, it is divided into sixty-five chapters, authored or co-authored by sixty-four different scholars, and is composed in five different languages. The book is divided into three sections, in addition to an introduction and conclusion: the first section covers geography, history and historiography (37–88); followed by an outline of exploration and excavation at La Castellina (89–192); and finally studies and analysis of the finds (193–1108).

Part One is a most rewarding section. Two papers situate La Castellina in its geographical and topographical environment in South Etruria, close to the Tyrrhenian coast and looking inwards to the Tolfa Mountains. Significance is placed on the agricultural potential of the region, as well as the valuable mineral deposits, although it is noted very little direct evidence exists for exploitation during the Etruscan period. Following this, four chapters consider the history of the settlement through ancient literary evidence, the evolution of the place-name in various sources — notably a reference to the fourth- or fifth-century chapel of San Silvestro that appears on a map by Bernabeo Ligustri from 1609 painted during the papacy of Paul V. It is suggested that this chapel was linked to the earlier worship of the forest god Pan/Silvanus/Innus, who was, in turn, linked to Castrum Inui, a possible candidate for the Roman La Castellina. The final two chapters of the first section detail the history of the excavations in the region from the Franco-German expeditions of the nineteenth century, to the ‘new’ excavations of 1964. Included in this are notable events, namely the establishment of the Museo Nazionale, and the impact of the conflicts of the twentieth century and the destruction of much of the earlier excavated materials during bombings in World War II.

The second section of this volume considers the methodological approaches of the project between 1995 and 2002, of which this volume is the result. An important component of this has been the examination of the evidence from previous explorations housed in the Museo di Civitavecchia. Furthermore, the archaeological investigations of the area are presented as being extremely comprehensive, involving surface and geophysical survey, as well as soundings and open-area excavations. Six chapters in all describe the various processes and a final synthesis outlining the stratigraphy and history of occupation of the site is provided. Pointedly, the results show near continuous activity at La Castellina from the Bronze Age to the Hellenistic period, including the significant stages of occupation during the Orientalizing and Archaic phases.

The presentation of the finds from excavation and survey presented in Part Three is among the most impressive this reviewer has ever encountered. In total 70,114 finds were documented in the project, of which 3,096 are published in detail in this section. The level of detail, coupled with excellent line drawings and photographs is to be commended. All categories of material are considered: lithic finds, ceramics, architectural material (terracottas and masonry), textile implements, jewellery, glass, ivory, metals, and objects with inscriptions or graffiti. In addition, a number of chapters give the findings of scientific analyses, comprising organic and faunal remains, and petrographic analysis of impasto ware. Notable in these chapters is the separation of ceramic fabrics into different categories, and the prominence allotted to impasto wares. Too often in site reports from central Italy local or utilitarian ceramics are neglected in favour of ‘imported’ ones, especially Greek wares; consequently the chapters dedicated to these are especially welcome. The publication of this data is necessary to correct the imbalance in our knowledge of utilitarian wares and this lead should be followed by everyone else working on the Italian peninsula. Nonetheless, the analysis of imported Etruscan and Greek wares is equally scholarly. These finds help situate La Castellina in its broader regional setting, reinforcing its connectedness to Tarquinia and Caere in particular, most likely the re-distribution centres from where most of the Greek and other Etruscan wares were sourced. The final series of chapters offers preliminary conclusions to the recent excavations as well as a brief synthesis of the geo-political position of the settlement in antiquity. The final chapter neatly summarizes the significance of the site in antiquity reminding us of its position on the maritime border between the more famous Etruscan city-states of Caere and Tarquinia.

Overall this is a valuable contribution to the scholarship of early Italy, containing in one volume a phenomenal dataset from an important Etruscan settlement. While it is likely too expensive to have in many personal collections, it should be obtained by all institutions specializing in ancient Italy. As previously noted it sets a high standard to emulate, both in terms of publication and archaeological methodologies, for those working in the region. Also worth lauding is the speed of publication — especially relative to the scale of the task — appearing less than a decade after the final excavations.