Perhaps the mainland political system in the early Iron Age was less rigid; at any rate it can boast no architectural remains as sophisticated as the Sardinian _nuraghi_. But the artifacts, especially from graves, are more numerous than for the Bronze or Neolithic Ages, and the graves show that roughly speaking the peninsula was divided in the early Iron Age between two cultures (Fig. 1.8): the folk west of a line drawn from Rome to Bimini cremated their dead; those east of that line inhumed them. In and near Rome the two burial rites are mingled: the significant inference from this fact will be explained later. Because the finds are so much more numerous on the mainland, the resulting inferences involve a much more complex subdivision into cultures and periods. We may single out three sets of inferences, based primarily on three major archaeological efforts. The first is Pericle Ducati’s work at Bologna, which distinguished four cultural phases, named from Villanova, the village where a major cemetery was found, and from the Benacci and Arnoaldi estates, whence key finds come. The second centers at Este, near Padua, famous for its bronze _situle_ or buckets finely decorated by punching from the back, in the technique called _repoussé_. The third is Paolo Orsi’s exemplary work in Sicily and South Italy. The complex chronology is best set out in a tabular view (see facing page). THE IRON AGE -----+--------------------------------------+------------+------------- | ITALY | SICILY |GREECE & DATES+------------+------------+------------+ |AEGAEAN B.C. | _North_ | _Central_ | _South_ | | -----+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------- | | | | |Troy VIII 900 |Proto- | |Torre Galli,|Siculan III.|Geometric | Villanovan| | Canale | | | pottery -----+------------+------------+-----|------+-----|------+------------- 850 |Benacci I | | | | | | -----+------------+------------+-----|------+-----|------+------------- 800 | |Early | | | | | | | Etruscans | v | v | -----+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------- |Benacci II | |Pantalica | | 750 | |Alban & | South | | | | Forum | | | | | graves | | | -----+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------- | | | |Gk. col., | 700 | | | | Syracuse |Orientalizing | | | | | pottery -----+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------