The Villanovan culture , the earliest Iron Age culture of central and northern Italy, abruptly following the Bronze Age Terramare culture, is broadly divided into a proto-Villanovan culture (Villanovan I) from 1100 BCE to 900 BCE and the Villanovan culture proper (Villanovan II) from 900 BCE to 700 BCE, when the Etruscan cities begin to be founded.
