Isidoro Falchi (* 26 April 1838 in Montopoli in Val d'Arno (province Pisa); "† 30 April 1914 ebenda) was an Italian physician, who admits in the Toskana by its auto+didactical archaeological research became. Its life achievement from 1880 to its death was the discovery of the gone down etruskischen city Vetulonia under the medieval borgo Colonna di Buriano in the province Grosseto. Also it gave the first impact to 1897-1903 for the excavation of the etruskischen Nekropolen with Populonia.

Life

Isidoro Falchi was that secondaryyoungest of 17 children of a family from Montopoli in Val d'Arno. After its school time in the today's frazione San Miniato it studied medicine at the university of Pisa and attained a doctorate in this subject 1859.

Already two years before it had followed the Risorgimento movement; 1860 it followed the trooptroop troop under Vth Malenchini after Palermo for the reinforcement of the course of the thousands. In Caltanissetta was it as an auxiliary physician assigned, gotten sick then however and returned to the Toskana.

From 1862 to 1871 he was a physician in the municipality Campiglia Marittima; afterwards it established itself in its birth city up to its death. He married two times and got two children.

Apart from its occupation he noticed different honorary tasks at the municipality as

• Secretary of the local savings bank,
• School inspector,
• Member of the di mutuo soccorso locally (one the German workers' welfare institution similar organization in Italy) as well as
• Auxiliary official in different offices.

In the course of this municipality work it began to be interested into the 1870er years in the archaeology. During the support of requirements for restitution of feasting and forest country he had entrance to archives, where he discovered notes of the population over soil finds.

Project Vetulonia

1880 had come for the first time Isidoro Falchi in connection with a vocational task to Colonna di Buriano in the province Grosseto. As it information from farmers over weapon, and decoration finds followed, settled in it the idea, it must an antique city under the medieval borgo be. Due to the transcription VATL on the coins and the evaluation of a source of 1181 over the Poggio di Vitulonia he formulated in two 1880 and 1881 publications appeared the hypothesis, for decades of archaeologists into the entire Maremma looked for, gone down etruskische Vetulonia would be for the first time underneath this hill. But only it received an excavation permission to 1884 from the authorities in Florenz.

• 1892 discovered Falchi as the first the two grave chambers of the Tomba della Pietrera.
• it identified the ruins of the atrium-type buildings in the center of the settlement to 1893 on the hill (via dei Ciclopi).
• 1895 he found the Relikte to one approx. 5 m is enough for Stadtmauer (Zyklopenmauer), whose function is not finally clarified as military wall and/or retaining wall.
• 1897 opened Falchis team the Tomba di Belvedere.
• he found the central grave chamber of the Tomba del Diavolino 2 (= "“Teufelchen 2"”) to 1903, a large Tumulus.

In report distances of approx. one year Falchi laid down time near the continuation of its work in short essays. It published mostly in the magazine Notizie degli Scavi di , but also the reports of the German archaeological institute in Rome published 1886 its realizations.

Some notes Falchis still are in archives. The references collected in the Museo Topografico Centrale dell'Etruria in Florenz with the Arno flood 1966 were nearly completely destroyed.

The professional world did not want to recognize at the beginning of the writing up of the layman. Past investigations had suggested it that Vetulonia must have lain in sea proximity. The dominant, Lehrmeinung represented by C. Dotto dei Dauli, A. Malfatti, C.A. de Cara and G. Sordini had assumed the etruskische twelve-standard ware city on the hill Poggio Castiglione with Massa Marittima. It had not been noted that the situation of Colonna di Buriano did not stand against, since the large salt lake must have been navigable Lacus Prilius, which had covered the Maremma in the antique one, and have had an entrance to the sea.

Already on 22 July 1887 Falchis writing up was recognized by the municipality and given to the place Colonna di Buriano by a regional decree its antique name back. The acceptance on the part of the professional world stayed behind this step first; numerous disputations between the established archaeologists and Falchi were exchanged and published. 1893 were used a conciliation commission by the responsible Ministry, that recognized Falchis identification. On 3 June 1894 it was distinguished with the academy price of the archaeological faculty in Florenz. He was appointed at the same time by the Etruski museum of this city the Ispettore degli scavi monumentali.

Since the 1990er years actual also in the course of the documentary processing of the archaeological places of discovery - the interest in the person of the discoverer revitalisiert. To the 100-Jahr-Feier of its scientific remuneration of the autumn 1994 up to the spring 1995 an exhibition was dedicated to him in its hometown with etruskischen pieces of find from the graves Vetulonias. The same exhibition was shown 1995 in Campiglia Marittima and provided with a catalog.

The archaeological museum in Vetulonia is designated since 2000 after Isidoro Falchi.

Until today Falchis unorthodox excavation methods, imprecise documentations and the popular-scientific language of its publications are criticized by the professional world. On the other hand also critics recognize on that all knowledge, which exists today over the etruskische Vetulonia decreases/goes back on Falchis bases.

Project Baratti/Populonia

1897 pushed Falchi at the gulf grave chamber over-curved by Baratti in the proximity of an old farmhouse with the Weiler San Cerbone on one with sandstone blocks. Still in the same year it began with systematic excavation work. In the next months further graves came with Populonia to the light under a layer of iron cinders, which occupy the etruskische know-how in metalworking, which - turned out later as - in this settlement its center had. The ores referred the inhabitants from the Colline Metallifere.

In the meantime the basic owner forbade Falchi excavation work, which he could however again take up however after Vorsprache in the archaeological museum to Florenz in November 1903. He discovered a row with his further investigations more valuable grave-added, among other things two elaborierte gilded vases.

Falchis initiative gave to that extent the impact for the discovery of the wide Nekropole, which constitute today the Parco Archeologico di Baratti e Populonia. Over a majority of the graves however the iron slag layer over 7 m was thick; these were only cleared away after the First World War, when two steel huts were interested in the material. Thus it explains itself that the largest part of the graves was only discovered between 1920 and 1957. At this time Falchi had already deceased.

Only one of its publications dedicates itself to Populonia.

Writings (selection)

• Trattenimenti populari sulla storia della Maremma, Prato 1880 (first considerations)

• Ricerche di Vetulonia, Prato 1881

• Scavi di Vetulonia, Mitteilungen of the German archaeological institute, Roman department of I, 1886, P. 243 f.

• Vetulonia, in Notizie degli Scavi di 1887

• Vetulonia e la sua necropoli antichissima, Florenz, 1891

• Nuovi scavi nella necrolopi vetuloniese, in: Notizie degli Scavi di 1892, P. 381

• Vetulonia solennemene giudicata A Vetulonia, Florenz 1894

Literature

• Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Bd. 44, Rome 1994

• Isidoro Falchi: un medico aluminium servizio dell'archeologia/un protagonista della ricerca italiana di fine Ottocento. Palazzo Pretoria 14 maggio - 15 ottobre 1995. Ministero Beni Culturali OD Ambientali, Soprintendenza ai Beni Archeologici della Toscana, Provincia di Livorno, Comune di Campiglia Marittima (Campiglia Marittima 1995).

Articles in category "Isidoro Falchi"

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