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History
In 1776 the canon of the cathedral of Volterra Pietro Franceschini found a hypogeum of great size dating back to the Hellenistic period near the Etruscan necropolis of the Portone, containing forty Etruscan urns, which in 1777 he donated to the municipality of Volterra. This donation was the first nucleus of the Civic Museum which in a short time collected many other works found in the surroundings of Volterra and which until then had been kept in private collections of Volterra nobles.
Among the various donations, the most important and most consistent was that of Mario Guarnacci, a wealthy priest promoter of numerous archaeological excavations. On 15 September 1571 Mario guarnacci donated his entire collection to the newborn museum. The museum was named after him which in over two centuries of history has increased its heritage thanks to numerous excavation campaigns promoted by the Superintendency of Antiquities of Etruria.
The first location for the museum was Palazzo Ruggeri, Guarnacci's home. Later it was moved first to some rooms of the city hall and then from 1877 to the Desideri-Tangassi palace, the current location.
First Prefect and Librarian of the Guarnacci Museum was the Roman abbot Francesco Ballani, well-known librettist of his time, who was succeeded in 1805 by Giuseppe Cailli until his death in 1810. Francesco Inghirami held this office from 1810 until 1815 .
Room I
Room I
In the first room there are finds dating back to the Eneolithic period, mainly axes, copper daggers, arrowheads from the tombs found in Pomarance, Guardistallo and Montebradoni, which testify how the Volterra area was already intensely inhabited in prehistoric times. There are also finds from the Neolithic period, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. The finds from the Villanovan period consist of funeral objects such as spearheads, horse bites, fibulae and pots of impasto. At the center of the room the so-called Tomb of Badia is reconstructed, whose funeral equipment is exhibited in an adjacent showcase.
Room II
Room II
In this room are collected materials dating back to the orientalising age. This period is not well documented in Volterra because most of the tombs of this period were destroyed following the construction of the walls of the fourth century BC. which incorporated the territory on which the necropolis of the time were located.
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