Approaching to a comparative analysis of Rhaetic domestic space: some methodological remarks.

The paper aims to contribute to the Rhaeto-Etruscan question dealing with the archaeological remains of the dwellings used during the Iron Age in the eastern Alps compared with the Etruscan domestic architecture attested both in central Italy and in the Po Valley (Padanian Etruria). The domestic space is the product of a series of natural, functional and cultural factors, that modify each other in a systemic context. In the paper, a particular attention will be devoted to decoding the culturally fixed factors, that are the most important determinants of architectural form and use, but are often the least recognisable in the remains of the distant past. Although we should not expect archaeological remains to correlate completely with linguistic, historical and genetic data, cultural conventions clarified by the study of ancient architecture can suggest something about the relationships among Alpine and Etruscan populations. The analysis will be broadened to other geographical and cultural contexts, such as the Iron age villages in eastern (Slovenia) and western (Golasecca culture) Alps, and in the Apennines region, without forgetting the Paleo-Venetian remains of dwellings in the Po valley.