Populonia

Populonia or Populonia Alta (Etruscan: Pupluna, Pufluna or Fufluna, all pronounced Fufluna; Latin: Populonium, Populonia, or Populonii) today is a of the comune of Piombino (Tuscany, central Italy). As of 2009 its population was 17. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). Populonia is especially noteworthy for its Etruscan remains, including one of the main necropolis in Italy, discovered by Isidoro Falchi.

==Description== thumb|left|Detail of the fortress of Populonia. thumb|left|The Tomb of the Bronze Statuette of the Offering Bearer in the San Cerbone necropolis at Casone Farm. The tomb and the entire area around it was once deep under slag. The date of the tomb is estimated at 530-500 BC. Modern Populonia is located within a small portion of the walled acropolis of a large ancient city, which covered the entire north end of Monte Massoncello, a promontory, its northern slopes down to the Bay of Baratti, and the shores of the bay, which was its port. The city was an industrial one, smelting copper ore brought from the Colline Metallifere, the "ore-bearing hills" inland, and iron ore from nearby Elba, in beehive blast furnaces. Over the thousand years of its life it came to cover the entire southern shore of the bay with slag, piling it over abandoned residences and cemeteries, until it lost its utility as a metals manufacturer. Then it was abandoned.