Narce

Narce was a Faliscan settlement in Italy located 5 kilometers south of Falerii (modern Civita Castellana). Its residents spoke an Italic language related to Latin. It was inhabited from the 2nd millennium to the 3rd century B.C. The ancient name of the settlement is uncertain, but it may have been called Fescennium.

The material culture, religion, and history of the Faliscans shares much in common with that of the Etruscans. Narce interacted with Etruscan settlements in all periods of its inhabitation, maintaining especially close relations with the nearby Etruscan city of Veii. Ultimately both groups of people met the same fate under Roman conquest.

Narce was at the center of an impressive network of roads, which gave it access to Veii, Nepi, Falerii Veteres, Capena, and other neighboring settlements. It likely owed its prosperity to its position as a trading post and waystation.

Narce comprises a nucleated settlement of three hills in the Treia River Vally between Mazzano Romano and Calcata. It takes its name from the northernmost hill, which was the first to be occupied. The others that formed the settlement are Monte li Santi and Pizzo Piede.

The inhabitants of Bronze Age Narce lived along the Treia River in low areas below the city's cliffs. Archaeological evidence suggests they burned the vegetation in the area before building huts and possibly a palisade to enclose the city. From the 14th century through the Protovillanovan period (12th-11th century) the people living there planted grains and raised pigs and sheep for meat, milk, and wool. During this period Narce may have served as a focus for smaller sites in its surrounding hinterland. Metalwork and glass beads among archaeological finds indicate that even at this period Narce was involved in long-range trade routes.

During the Villanovan Iron Age (900-700 B.C.), settlements grew up in higher areas to the north and south. The latest habitation on the lower-lying part of the site dates to the 7th century B.C. This low area was used exclusively for burials from the second half of that century onward. At this time the center of the settlement was at Monte li Santi.

The site was reoccupied during the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C., when its central point was on Pizzo Piede (although the other hills were also occupied). When the Romans annexed the region in 241 B.C., the population of Narce dispersed. The site was reoccupied yet again during the 1st-3rd centuries A.D.

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