Gruppi sociali e organizzazione politica a Este all’alba della città

The dynamics that characterised the development of the protourban centre of Este, between the end of the 9th and the beginning of the 8th century BC, are the consequence of a well-known synecistic process that involved the local settlement, the Euganean district and the Adige River axis. On the other hand, the inner organisation of the new protoruban centre after its birth is still problematic and unclear, especially as regards the articulation of society, which led, approximately from the middle of the 8th century BC, to the emergence of aristocratic élites. Despite some proposals express in recent years, critical reflection on this issue is still far from being formulated. Thanks to the re-examination of the fundamental sample coming from Este cemeteries, published both in recent years and in the late 19th/early 20th centuries literature, this paper aims, through a systematic analysis of some key-indicators, to recognise and outline some evolutionary trends and propose a model of the articulation of Este society during the fundamental phase of its birth and developed in the 8th century BC.