archaeological Museum

This archaeological museum is the showpiece of Massa Marittima. To be honest, I’m not sure if it’s their pride and joy because they love history or because they love to brag about all the priceless treasures they have on display!

That said, this is a museum not to be missed. In fact, if you can only see one museum in Massa Marittima, see this one, you will be speechless.

One of the first things that greets you when you enter the museum is the model of an Oreopithecus fossil displayed on the first floor.

Oreopithecus is an extinct Miocene primate whose fossils have been found in Tuscany and Sardinia. It is not believed that this is a primitive form of man, but a species that grew together with Homo Sapiens, but never fully evolved.

The one exhibited here is only a fusion of the real fossil, found in a mine in nearby Montebamboli. The real fossil is on display in Florence, but this fusion is accompanied by fantastic information panels in English and reconstructions (like the one pictured above) that give a sense of prehistoric Massa Marittima.

From here the museum moves chronologically through the history of the area.

Particularly interesting is the Eneolithic period (3,000 BC), in which objects that you will not find elsewhere in Maremma are exhibited. The mines and minerals around Massa Marittima have attracted ancient civilizations to the area for millennia and have left many remarkable things for modern museum visitors, including a stele one of a kind stone.

Carved more than 3,000 years BC, this flint stone bears a striking resemblance to a little man and was found in the Vado all’Arancio. There stele of stone it was made by a practically unknown civilization, but which is thought to have also lived in Corsica and in some parts of France. This civilization predates both the Etruscans and the Romans.

The two upper levels of the museums are entirely dedicated to the Etruscans of the nearby Accesa Lake. Most of the exhibits come from tombs and include ceramic dishes, statues, weapons, jewelry and other devotional materials. There are also some beautifully constructed plastic models of Etruscan houses and tombs.