The Etruscan Museum of Populonia Gasparri Collection consists of finds from archaeological excavations conducted in Baratti in the first half of the twentieth century. The Collection is private and consists, for the most part, of the objects assigned by the Superintendence to the Gasparri family, as a prize for the archaeological discoveries made on their property.
The new tour route, inaugurated in June 2015, opens with the collection of finds from the necropolis of Populonia. The showcases of the first room house the grave goods of some tombs now visible in the Archaeological Park of Baratti and others that emerged during the mining excavations. A large panel tells the story of the museum and the collection owned by the Gasparri family, while a large map illustrates the places mentioned in the itinerary.
In the second room, finds that emerged during the town planning works in the Villini area offer the cue to tell, with images and archival documents, the history of seaside tourism in which Baratti has been a protagonist since the beginning of the twentieth century.
The third room is dedicated to the sea and hosts, with a really evocative solution, the finds that the sea has returned, Etruscan and Roman amphorae, stone and lead anchors, a lava stone millstone. The visit continues with a window on funerary archaeology and on the finds that, collected outside their original context, are displayed in chronological order and grouped by function and type.
Among the most interesting and significant objects are a sculpted sarcophagus lid depicting the deceased half lying down, a head carved in volcanic stone, bronze ornaments and furnishings, Etruscan vases and ceramics imported from all over the Mediterranean basin.
The Museum is located in the former oil mill in the village of Populonia, where it was moved in 1988. The Collection we see today is the result of over 70 years of history. To the original nucleus of 1943 was added a nucleus of finds coming from the government excavations of the 50s and a rather heterogeneous nucleus of objects found outside their original context in the fields and in the sea of Baratti.
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