Etruscans Now
Cities and settlement
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Greg Warden - Southern Methodist University, Texas and
Michael Thomas - University of Texas at Austin
The Etruscan site of Poggio Colla
The Etruscan site of Poggio Colla, in the Mugello basin twenty-two miles north-east of Florence, has been excavated since 1995 by a joint mission from Southern Methodist University and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology. The aim of the project has been to excavate a major Etruscan settlement that spans most of Etruscan history (7th century-2nd century BC) in the context of a broader study of the region, the Mugello basin and Sieve river valley. Because of the site's extent, its continuous habitation over five centuries, and the broader context of a discrete geographical region at the northern limit of Etruria, we are afforded an unparalleled view of Etruscan life. Excavation has revealed a fortified arx, necropolis, and satellite habitations in the broader periphery of the acropolis. One of these has produced an artisans' quarter of the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, with three ceramic kilns, habitations, and a pottery dump. Another has produced evidence of an Etruscan quarry of the seventh century BC. The acropolis itself was dominated by a monumental temple (11x23 metres) whose large Tuscan Doric bases and podium mouldings were reused in the final phase. In addition to the monumental architecture, the finds from the arx - Attic Red Figure, figural bronzes, and coins, including a hoard of 100 silver coins found this past summer-attest to the wealth of the site and provide dramatic evidence for the site's destruction in the first half of the second century BC, probably at the hands of the Romans.