ABSTRACT
In previous literature discussing the earliest phases of the Etruscans, the “Western Mediterranean” was more a geographical perspective than it was an historic one. Since west of the Tuscan and Latium coasts lies the island of Sardinia (Fig. 10.1), it seems only correct not to limit the analysis to the Tyrrhenian Sea but to consider also the connection and trade concerning Corsica, the Balearic Islands and the Iberian Peninsula, as far as the Gibraltar strait and beyond. The “Far West” history (as it was called in a paper presented to the XXIX Taranto Conference in 1989) (Lo Schiavo, D'Oriano 1990) has greatly changed due to the publication of the recovery of the discarded pottery and ivory fragments and other items from Huelva (Gonzàles de Canales et al. 2004). The volume, dated to 20 04, marked a revival of interest, still far from being exhausted, and the new, exciting discovery of Sardinian and Greek and more eastern findings on the Atlantic coasts, that will be mentioned below.
