The translation of the Italian term protostorico, given to scholars who study protohistory and whose work is accompanied by a distinctive outlook on the Etruscans, characterized by a more explicit interest in theory (including the importance of landscape) and a strong emphasis on the early development of social complexity and state formation. Two schools of protohistory are particularly important: the dominant school (based in Rome and until recently headed by Renato Peroni) and a second school (originally based in Florence, headed by Ferrante Rittatore Vonwiller, and now based in Milan), which has particularly undertaken work in the Fiora Valley, most notably at Sorgenti della Nova.
Historical Dictionary of the Etruscans. Simon K. F. Stoddart.