Tomba dell'Arciere

The Etruscan tomb was accidentally discovered in 1978 and immediately the Archaeological Superintendence performed the excavation and restoration. It owes its name to the huge stele, depicting an archer, which was found (unfortunately incomplete) at the closing of the tomb.
It is made of a perfectly square single chamber measuring more than 5m per side. The dromos, the floor and the walls of the tomb are made with limestone hailing from the nearby hills of Campòli; the jambs, the central pillar, the architraves, the whole covering and the stele are instead made of sandstone not coming from the area, but typical of the Valle dell'Elsa. The size of these stones and therefore their weight (up to 8000 kilograms) is striking and the techniques of transportation and construction, already  in possession of the Etruscans from the archaic period, are awe-inspiring. The covering, unique in the Volterran and Florentine areas, was a pseudo-dome supported by a big central pillar about 4 m high.
Already in ancient times, the tomb had been violated and ransacked; the only things found were fragments of pottery, ivory, bronze and a small golden brooch, miracolously remained buried in the cracks of the paving stones. The type of the found objects dates the tomb to about the middle of the 7th century BC. Gold and ivory also indicate the wealth and power of the Etruscan family who owned these hills.