The Necropolis of Banditaccia, a Unesco site since 2004, is the best example of Etruscan funerary architecture. It extends west of the city of Cerveteri, on a tuffaceous plateau. The necropolis extends for about 400 hectares and there are many thousands of burials, the fenced off part that can be visited covers only 10 hectares and has about 400 mounds, from the oldest of the Villanovan period (IX century BC) to the most recent of the Hellenistic (3rd century BC). From the 7th century BC, with the prevalence of the inhumation rite, large tumuli developed with burial chambers dug into the tuff and decorated with motifs inspired by the forms of domestic architecture. These monuments, which belonged to high-ranking families, have yielded rich kits in which the presence of materials imported from the Near East and Greece is frequent. The name "Banditaccia" derives from the fact that since the end of the 19th century the area has been "banned", i.e. rented through a tender, by the landowners of Cerveteri in favor of the local population. The lands began to be referred to with the pet name "Banditaccia" because they did not lend themselves to the needs of grazing and agriculture. Given its grandeur, the Necropolis of Banditaccia is the largest ancient necropolis in the entire Mediterranean area.