Spina

Pre-Roman port on the northern Adriatic, at the mouth of the River Po in Italy. The town was probably Etruscan from the late 6th-early 5th century BC. Together with a settlement at Adria, Spina was an important link between the markets of Etruria and the Poplain, and Greek shipping in the Adriatic. Cemeteries (Valle Trebba, Valle Pega) have yielded large amounts of Greek pottery, especially Athenian Red-Figure Ware, terra-cottas, fine Etruscan bronzes, western Greek and Etruscan jewelry, faience and amber. The town also kept a Treasury at Delphi. The site had palisades, earth ramparts, and a network of canals as well as a grid plan. At its height, it may have shipped agricultural produce and slaves. Soon after 400 BC, Spina was sacked by the Gauls. With the collapse of its market and the silting of its port it became obsolete.

An important pre-Roman port on the northern Adriatic, now some 10 km inland. Although Greeks were to form a dominant part of the population, the town was probably an Etruscan foundation of the late 6th century bc, belonging to the period of rapid Etruscan northward expansion into the Po Valley. Together with a settlement at Adria, to which the Etruscans may have linked it by canal, Spina was a focal link between the markets of Etruria and the Po plain, and Greek shipping in the Adriatic. Cemeteries have yielded large amounts of pottery, especially Athenian Red-figure Ware, terracottas, Etruscan bronzes, western Greek and Etruscan jewellery, faience and amber, which are collected together at Ferrara Museum. The town also kept a Treasury at Delphi. The site, which is confirmed by aerial photography, shows a town well adapted to the marshy and flooded conditions, with palisades, earth ramparts and a network of canals. There was a grid plan, and dwellings were of wood, constructed probably on sandbanks supported by wooden piles. Celtic invasion of the north of Italy led to the town’s desertion in the 3rd century BC.