INTRODUCTION Crustumerium is one of the northernmost settle- ments of Latium Vetus, located along the Via Salaria, on the eastern bank of the Tiber and at a distance of 15 km from the centre of Rome (fig. 1). The ancient town was positioned on the border of four culturally diverse regions, Latium Vetus, the Sabine area, Etruria and the Faliscan-Cape- nate region. As a result of this location, the mate- rial culture of Crustumerium shows signs of hybridity. 2 Its location, the surrounding fertile agricultural land, as well as the interregional road network that placed the site in close contact with the above-mentioned regions, contributed signif- icantly to the development of the site from the 9 th century onwards. By the 7 th -6 th centuries the set- tlement occupied an area of ca 60 hectares and had become the centre of a small city-state. 3 Crustumerium flourished in the Orientalising and Archaic period, roughly from the second half of the 8 th until the 6 th century and must have housed a considerable population (see below).Ancient sources mention that Crustumerium and its hin- terland were added in 495 to the rising Roman state as the first tribus rustica named after its ter- ritory, following an invasion of the Romans in 499. 4 The SSBAR has investigated the site since the late 1980s, focussing mainly on the excavation of its burial grounds. So far, four necropolises have been identified around the settlement: Monte Del Bufalo (MDB), Sasso Bianco, Marcigliana and Cisterna Grande. 5 Based on the surveys and exca- vations of the past decades, it can be assumed that thousands of tombs surrounded the settle- ment, dating predominantly to the period ca 800 to 500. This guesstimate is established on research both in the Monte Del Bufalo necropolis and in the settlement. 6 Up to now, around 400 tombs have been exca- vated by both the SSBAR and other partners involved in the Crustumerium project. 7 The Monte Del Bufalo necropolis stretches along the south-eastern side of the settlement (fig. 2). Based on surveys of the SSBAR, we can assume that the density of tombs in this necropolis is uneven. The southern part of the Monte del Bufalo necropolis contains hundreds of tombs of which ca 250 were excavated, including the three tombs presented in this paper (fig. 2). 8 With respect to the grave contents, we differ- entiate between the drinking and eating wares (often found next to the deceased or in a separate niche of the tomb) and the personal objects, de- posited on top of or near the remains of the body. Almost all tombs contain artefacts that refer to a drinking and eating ritual associated with the burial. This coincides with data from other burial grounds in the vicinity of Rome, suggesting that this ritual constitutes the most traditional and characteristic aspect of the funerary ceremony during the period discussed. 9 In addition to these eating and drinking wares, tombs assigned to roughly the period 800 to 650/600 contain a num- ber of personal artefacts, some of them unparal- leled. In the literature, a few artefacts are consid- ered status symbols, providing a possibility to reconstruct the social persona of the deceased, a topic that will be discussed in the final part of this paper. 10 Research of the burial grounds around Crustu- merium is affected by two biases. The first con- cerns the considerable damage brought to the tombs by robbers. They are mainly interested in 29 BABESCH 87 (2012), 29-44. doi: 10.2143/BAB.87.0.2160691. Three ladies from Crustumerium, ca 675-650 BC Albert J. Nijboer and Sarah L. Willemsen Abstract * Since 2006, the Groningen Institute of Archaeology (GIA) has been involved in the excavation of the Monte Del Bufalo necropolis at Crustumerium. The investigation yielded tens of tombs dating to the 7 th and 6 th cen- turies. 1 The excavations took place in close collaboration with the SSBAR (Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma). The article discusses three female tombs that stand out when compared to other con- temporary tombs at Crustumerium. In addition, these three tombs have much in common in content and loca- tion. This article contains a description of the funerary ritual of each tomb and subsequently will elaborate on the social status of the women, expressed in the artefacts with which they were interred. We will suggest iden- tifying the women buried in tombs 71, 76 and 232, as mistresses of a main household in Crustumerium.