The old debate over urbanisation in central Italy (Ampolo 1980) has recently been revitalised by new excavations conducted in the central area of Rome (see Sommella Mura et al. 2001 for the Capitoline hill; and Carandini 2007 with previous references for the Palatine hill) and by recent and by recent research conducted by Italian (Peroni 1996; di Gennaro and Guidi 2000; Pacciarelli 2001; Peroni 2000; Guidi in press) and international scholars (Damgaard Andersen et al. 1997; Attema 2004; Osborne and Cunliffe 2005)��. In simple terms In simple terms the main questions of this debate have always been whether the city began in the 8th–7th or the 6th century BCE, what political structure preceded the city, and to what extent were changes generated by external factors. With reference to this third issue, some scholars, mainly historians, Classicists and Etruscologists, have placed a great emphasis on external stimuli, such as Greek colonisation, and on the priority of the process in Etruria as opposed other Italian regions. Other scholars, principally pre-historians, have placed more emphasis on early and fairly rapid internal transformations, and see a weak asymmetry between Etruria and some other regions (for a summary and further references see Vanzetti 2002; and Fulminante 2003, 244–9). This papers aims to contribute to this debate by reconsidering these new excavations, combined with a re-evaluation of old settlement data, in the light of fresh ideas.