Poggio Civitate

Poggio Civitate is a hill in the commune of Murlo, Siena, Italy and the location of an ancient settlement of the Etruscan civilization. It was discovered in 1920, and excavations began in 1966 and have uncovered substantial traces of activity in the Orientalizing and Archaic periods as well as some material from both earlier and later periods.

Poggio Civitate
Murlo
View of Poggio Civitate (left), Poggio Aguzzo (center) and Murlo (right).
Shown within Tuscany
LocationMurlo, Siena, Italy
RegionTuscany
TypeSettlement
History
Abandonedlate sixth century BC
PeriodsOrientalizing period - Archaic period
CulturesEtruscan civilization
Site notes
Excavation datesyes
ArchaeologistsKyle Meredith Phillips, Jr.; Erik Nielsen; Anthony Tuck
Conditionruined
Public accessno
WebsiteThe Poggio Civitate Archaeological Project (in Italian)

The large Archaic building

Sometime in the early 6th century BCE a "monumental complex" was constructed on Poggio Civitate, a term for large buildings or sets of buildings with uncertain function found in Etruscan architecture. It consisted of a courtyard surrounded by a colonnade on three sides and probably a shrine and a possible throne on the fourth.[1] Surrounding the colonnade and courtyard were four blocks of rooms.[1] The rooms were covered by 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2) of terracotta roof tiles.[1]

The building was elaborately decorated. The walls and rooflines contained terracotta statues (including the Murlo cowboy) and friezes.[1] One of these friezes depicts a banquet scene common to art of archaic Italy.[1] The scene depicts four servants serving guests reclining on couches as well as hunting dogs.[1] One guest is playing the lyre while a mixing bowl is situated in the center of two couches.[1] Others depict mythical, divine, or real humans and animals.[1] Also depicted are processions, horse races, and warriors marching behind leaders in chariots.[1] Some scenes depict ceremonies and business being conducted, in one of these a human figurine carries a lituus, a curved staff serving as a symbol of office in Etruria and Latium.[1]

The use of the building is unclear. One possible use was as the residence of the ruler or leading family of the town. Fine pottery fragments were discovered, so symposia and banquets likely occurred at the site.[1]

Directors of excavation
A terracotta plaque from the site

References
  1. Boatwright, Mary; Gargola, Daniel; Lenski, Noel; Talbert, Richard (2012). "Archaic Italy and the Origins of Rome". The Romans: From Village to Empire (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 14–15. ISBN 978-0-19-973057-5.
  2. de Puma, Richard; Small, Jocelyn Penny (1993). "Biography of Kyle Meredith Phillips, Jr". Murlo and the Etruscans Art and Society in Ancient Etruria (1st ed.). University of Wisconsin Press. pp. xxvi–xxviii. ISBN 978-0-299-13910-0.
  3. Tuck, Anthony. Classics Department Biography Page.

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