Giovanni Gozzadini (15 October 1810 – 25 August 1887) was an Italian

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

. The last male heir of a noble family in

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, that had given the city men-at-arms, doctors, and jurists, Giovanni was a highly educated man in other areas such as politics. His excavations in a

necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...

on his property at Villanova (Castenaso, eight kilometres south-east of Bologna), lasting from 1853 to 1855, involved 193 tombs, six of which were separated from the rest as if to signify a special social status. The "well tomb" pit graves lined with stones contained funerary urns. Thus were unearthed the first remains of the

Villanovan culture The Villanovan culture (–700 BCE), regarded as the earliest phase of the Etruscan civilization, was the earliest Iron Age culture of Italy. It directly followed the Bronze Age Proto-Villanovan culture which branched off from the Urnfield cult ...

, the first

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

culture in ancient Italy. The name Villanovan derives from that of the estate owned by Gozzadini. He also undertook the first excavations that brought to light the Etruscan necropolis at Marzabotto, financed by the Conti Aria, who were the landowners of the entire Pianura di Misano. He is also known for his ground-breaking study of the medieval Towers of Bologna. At her death, his only daughter, Gozzadina Gozzadini left the family fortune to the Hospital of Bologna, where the university pediatric clinic carries the family name today, the ''Clinica Pediatrica Universitaria Gozzadini di Bologna''.

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* People from Bologna Italian archaeologists 1810 births 1887 deaths Members of the Senate of the Kingdom of Italy Members of the Senate of the Kingdom of Sardinia Villanovan culture {{italy-archaeologist-stub